Nobody Haunts Me Like You
by gublercullen
Summary: Daryl accidentally shoots a girl in the woods, seeing no other option he has to take her back to camp and get her fixed up. Finnegan Clara is talkative, sarcastic and somewhat annoying, yet Daryl can't help but find himself attracted to the young brunette. As the danger increases, Daryl realizes Finn is worth protecting. DARYL/OC RATE M FOR FUTURE LEMONY GOODNESS
1. Chapter 1

_So here's the first chapter of my brand new Daryl/OC fiction, I'm really excited about this one. Please review, it will help me to feel inspired and I'll update more often._

_Disclaimer: I only own my OC Finn Clara, nobody else, not even Daryl *sobs* _

Nobody Haunts Me like You

Chapter One

She stumbled over a branch - that was where it had all gone horribly wrong. As she'd tried to back track her way through the woods, away from where she had spotted the two walkers, her foot had caught on the root of a tree and caused her to crash backwards to the ground, she wasn't exactly heavy but her fall made enough noise to alert the walkers of her close presence.

Before she knew it, she had to force her tired, dehydrated body to run clumsily through the woods. Her legs were barely cooperating and as the two walkers gained on her she had little choice but to continue running as fast as she could.

"Sons of bitches don't give up," Finn muttered to herself through ragged breaths as she hopped over another of the dreaded tree roots, dodging rocks and bushes. Weeks in the woods had left her covered in grime and mud, she could only hope that she was camouflaging into the background enough to disorientate the geeks.

The sudden immobility of her left leg was what got her first as she plummeted to the ground, she hadn't tripped over again…she knew this because of the searing pain the radiated throughout her thigh, she couldn't help but let out a throaty cry as she looked down to find an arrow penetrated deep into the flesh, blood soaking through her trousers.

"Fuck!" She yelled, gritting her teeth as she tried to bite back a second scream.

As the walkers gained on her however, she had little time to comprehend her next move, there was no way she could run – she'd be over in a matter of seconds, that was presuming she could even get to her feet in time. Instead, she pulled the arrow from her flesh as quickly as she could, the pain was excruciating as the arrow burned through her flesh, with the arrow in hand, she waited for the first walker to reach her. It crashed down to her, knocking the wind from her lungs as she drove the arrow head deep into its eye, causing it to go limp against her chest.

She rolled it off of herself, her eyes searching for the second walker, only to find it lying in a motionless heap a few feet away. Finn groaned as she rolled over and immediately pressed her hands against the wound, it was bleeding…a lot, but it didn't look too bad considering.

"You been bit?" A voice yelled to her from somewhere in the distance, the sound hit off the trees, making it difficult for her to determine exactly where it was coming from.

"No! But I might bleed to death!" Finn replied sarcastically, her hands still pressing against the injury. She was starting to feel light headed and dizzy…she never had been a fan of blood, even her own.

In seconds, he was beside her, ripping one of his sleeves from his shirt, he tied the material roughly around the top of her thigh.

"A few introductions might be nice before you feel me up," Finn flinched away from him, but his eyes didn't move to meet hers.  
"Hey my name is whatever, I'm the one that shot you, sorry 'bout that…" Finn mocked, but the strain was heavy in her tone, she scrunched her eyes shut and tried to ignore how much she was really hurting.

"Thought you was one of them," The man replied, his ice blue eyes meeting hers just momentarily, "Better safe than sorry," He added.

"Yeah well, let's see how safe I feel when I'm hopping about on one leg."

"You walk?"

"A man of few words, that should be endearing but currently it's just downright annoying," She took the man's hand and pulled herself up, she tested her leg a few times, but the second she put her full weight on it, it collapsed beneath her, she let out a scream that she had to force herself to stop as the pain in her leg shot up her side.

The man shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose before he picked Finn up again, this time hoisting her over his shoulder as he began walking.

"I can walk just fine!" Finn yelled.

"You can crawl just fine, walkin' not so much." The man scoffed.

"This seem crazy to you? You could be some crazy ass hillbilly who's planning on taking me to his love dungeon up in the hills and I'm barely arguing, talk about a new kind of exhausted huh?" Finn laughed nervously.

"You always this much o'a blabbermouth?" The man hissed angrily.

"Don't know…you always this much of a crappy shot?" The man growled at her reply, but this didn't stop her, "I mean, do I look like one of them to you? I'll admit, I've been in the woods for a good few weeks, but I'd hope I don't look or smell quite as bad as those guys, give a girl a break," She winced.

The man just shook his head as he continued carrying her through the woods, keeping his eye out for anything suspicious. Trust him to find the most annoying person left to shoot.


	2. Chapter 2

_I know I only posted chapter one today, but I thought since I got some reviews and lots of follows it'd be good to get this one up since its all written. If you're interested I've made a video trailer for this fanfiction on youtube, the link is:_

_ watch?v=BVbuFojaqHE_

_Please take the time to review, as you can see, I do update waaaay quick when I get reviews!_

Chapter Two

A damp sheen had covered her face and chest as they approached camp, the pain felt as if it were burning through her flesh, the shot had been clean through the flesh but that didn't stop the nerves in her leg flinching with every movement.

"You ain't fallin' asleep on me are ya?" The man asked as he continued hiking the pair through the remaining trees.

Finn struggled to answer, her head lolling to one side, her hands clasped weakly around the wound as she tried to stop the bleeding.

"What happened?" A mans voice caused Finn's eyes to shoot open, one guy hadn't surprised her much, but more than one still alive? Frankly, it was unexpected.

"She got in my way," The guy answered as he lay her down in the ground.  
"That is so not what happened, this guy has the aim of a dude with one eye and only half a hand," She scoffed but the pain soon stopped any further sarcasm.

"It doesn't look too bad, you haven't been bitten? Or scratched?" The second guy asked, his eyes kind and sincere as he kept pressure on the wound.

"Nothing, I've managed to dodge those guys so far, something's been bringing them further upland the past few days, I was unprepared for today."

"Damn right, walkin' round here with no weapon, you crazy or summit?" The crossbow wielding hillbilly questioned with a frown.

"Didn't you just shoot me asshole?" Finn yelled, lying back down on the ground.

"This'll need stitches, Dale you got any thread and a needle in the RV? Some bandages too?"

"Sure, gimme two minutes," The older man replied before he turned and walked towards the RV mentioned.

"So what's your name? What were you doin' walkin' around the woods up here?" The man with the kind eyes asked.  
"Finn, Finnegan Clara," She paused groaning against the pain, "I was on a hiking trip when this shit went down, been stuck in those woods since, figured it was the safest place for me to be."

"How did you last without a weapon? What have you done for food? Water?" The man asked.

"How have you guys survived? You just run, you eat what you find, drink when you can. I haven't had food for days, I was on my last few mouthfuls of water."

"Probably lucky I shot ya," Grumbled the man holding the crossbow.  
"You, don't speak to me. I don't take kindly to being shot on the first date." Finn lay back and tried to concentrate on breathing as her leg pulsed, the slightest movement causing a rush of pain to consume her.

The older man appeared with what she presumed was the means to stitch up her wound.

"I'm Rick, you're gunna hate me soon enough." The kind eyed man stated as he made the first stitch, Finn clenched her eyes shut and bit down on the back of her hand.

Finn warmed herself by the fire, the ache in her leg subsiding slightly in thanks to some painkillers one of the group had had lying around. A hand appeared at her side, passing her a Tupperware filled with food, she looked up to find it was the man that had shot her.

"Take it I ain't standin' here all day," He exclaimed and she quickly took the food and began eating.

"Thanks," She replied as she ate, realising just how starving she actually was.

"What were you doin' up hikin' in those woods for? Nothin' up there but cliff side and forest?" He asked.  
"That was sorta the point, I'm a climber, or at least I was…last time I climbed something it was to get away from those things, cant see it being much fun anymore." Finn laughed nervously, finishing the food that was in her dish.

"You eat fast for a girl," The man scoffed.

"Er hello, starving for however many damn days," She laughed apathetically, "I don't think I got your name before, you know, since you were too busy shooting me."

"Daryl," He grunted.

"Finn," She grinned, holding her hand out enthusiastically for him to shake, instead Daryl just stared at it before shaking his head.

"Whatever," Daryl muttered as he stood up and stalked off back to his camp, Finn frowned at his reaction.

As others gathered around the fire, Finn found that most of the group were friendly and talkative.

"So what did you do before all of this?" Lori asked, turning to face Finn.

"I was a teacher," Finn smiled, "I was a substitute so I travelled all round the country, I'd actually just come home to Atlanta for a week or so with some friends…guess I'll be sticking around a lot longer than I'd planned."

Lori got a solemn look in her eyes before she spoke again, "Were your friends out with you? Hiking that is?"

Finn glanced down as she fidgeted with her hands, finding that she was suddenly nervous.  
"Yeah, there were four of us," She paused, "They didn't make it, walkers or whatever you call 'em…our camp was torn down pretty early on, we'd been closed off for about five days so we weren't aware of what was happening until our tents were getting ripped into. I managed to fight a couple off, my friend got bit and, well, you know how that ends." Finn laughed apathetically, swallowing back tears.

"So if you were a teacher, could you teach us?" A young voice appeared and Finn lifted her gaze to meet with that of a young child she'd met earlier, Carl, sat next to Sophia, one of the others kids of the group.

"I mean, just the cool stuff," The boy corrected.  
"Sure," Finn found herself smiling "I mean if it's okay with your mama's…and the rest of the group, you know, if I stick around for a while?" Finn glanced between people before Rick smiled towards her.

"Make yourself at home," He said between mouthfuls of food.

"I got some room in the RV, it's pretty tight but I'm sure we could fit you in somewhere." Dale said, his eyes friendly.

"I'll go out into the city tomorrow, see if I can find a tent or something, you don't have to worry about me." Finn replied, causing everyone to go silent.  
"You go into the city you'll get your ass dead and buried." Daryl appeared from behind her as he walked past the group.  
"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"The place is overrun with thousand of walkers, we've tried it a couple times and barely made it out alive, for a tent…it ain't worth it," Shane said with a knowing smirk.

"Have you got any weapons? You have anything with you?" Rick asked.  
"All I have is a knife and some rope. I'd been tying myself to trees to get sleep," Finn laughed but clearly the others didn't find it so funny.

"You're serious?" Andrea asked.

"Couldn't sleep on the ground with no way to keep watch, trees was the safest bet." Finn replied and she took note of Andrea as she mouthed something to her sister Amy.

"Can you use a gun?" Rick asked.

"I ain't no cowboy but I know my way around a firearm," She said, rubbing at the wound at her leg as it started to itch.

"We'll get you fixed up tomorrow, I think it's best if we all get some rest for tonight," Rick stood up from his place by the fire, Lori and Carl following.

Finn made her way towards the RV, spotting someone up top she hauled herself onto the roof, struggling with her leg.

"Mind if I keep you company for a while?" Finn asked, Daryl turned to frown at her.

"Whatever," He yawned, his eyes ignoring hers.

"You do this every night? Keep watch?"

"All day, all night, we take it in turns."

"It's that bad huh?" Finn asked and Daryl was about to turn around and shout at her for being so ignorant until he seen her expression, the water filling those big brown eyes of hers.

"It's okay, you can tell me…if it's really bad," Finn urged.

"It's bad, surprised you don't know nothin' about it."  
"To be honest I could've been in those woods for a month, was running in circles for what felt like forever, just trying to outrun those things," She shook her head, looking down at her nails, "Hell I'm not sure if I can go and sleep down in the RV, can barely remember what its like to sleep somewhere inside."

Daryl sighed, already regretting what he was about to say but the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Sleep up here if you want, I'll keep a look out, make sure you ain't about to roll over board or nothin'."

Finn smiled, "Thanks." It was all she could muster, Daryl turned away from her and returned to his watch duty as Finn lay back.

"Sorry for calling you an asshole by the way, you know how it is when someone shoots you," Finn said with a hint of humour in her tone. Daryl merely grunted in response, yet Finn felt herself smiling as she stared up at the stars, feeling like for the first time in weeks, she might be able to get a full nights sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow! Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews, I really appreciate it. Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!_

Chapter Three

Finn awoke abruptly from her slumber, finding herself still lying atop the RV, the sun barely rising in the sky. Daryl was still sat on the chair, binoculars pressed to his eyes as he examined the area.

"Morning sunshine," Finn said with a smile in her voice, climbing to her feet and stretching her arms. She looked around camp to find only a few others were awake, Carol boiling water at the fire and Andrea attempting to examine a gun.  
"You always chirpy or somethin'?" Daryl hissed as he turned to face her, taking note of her ruffled hair and blushed cheeks.

"Haven't you heard? Since this whole apocalypse apparently happened, I'm officially the happiest person on earth," She replied sarcastically, she pulled a knife from the clip at her jeans and cut through the material at the knee so that she could see her wound better.

Finn removed the bandage carefully to find it looking angry and red, she touched the skin and it was hot to the touch.

"Looks bad," Daryl broke her concentration as he moved over to have a look at the wound.

"It's starting to close up, looks a little angry but nothing too bad," Finn said, cutting her other jean leg, fashioning a pair of shorts out of her previously destroyed trousers.

She walked away from Daryl and swung herself down from the top of the RV, wincing as her leg buckled beneath her.

"You alright?" Rick asked as he made his over to her, seeing the pained expression on her face as she pulled herself up.

"Yeah, I'm not good with being injured," She laughed "I struggle with staying still for longer than five minutes."

"Take it easy on that leg," Rick said with a frown before continuing, "You said you know your way around a gun yesterday?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty decent, why?"  
"A few of us are heading into the city, we'll need as many people around camp as possible that know how to defend themselves. Shane agreed, we'll give you one of our spares, I know you're injured but it never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes around here." Rick answered.  
"Why are you going into the city, I thought you guys said it's overrun?"

"It's a long story, just," Rick began, pulling a hand gun from his pocket "Take this, they haven't had many walkers up here yet but every little helps." Finn took the gun in her hand and tucked it into the waistband of her jeans.

"Be safe out there, if it's as bad as everyone keeps saying it is I think you guys will be the ones needing all the luck you can get," Finn said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

The group settled down by the early afternoon as the sun grew higher in the sky. Finn limped her way over towards where Lori and Carol were sat with their kids, Lori smiled as Finn sat down.

"You could probably help us out here," Lori laughed, "We were just trying to argue the importance of math."

"I see," Finn smiled.

"I was saying that we don't need to be able to do algebra," Carl replied matter of factly, seeming rather proud of his statement.

"Interesting point," Finn nodded "How about I make you a deal?"  
Carl and Sophia's faces lit up with the prospect.

"If you manage to do just another half hour of algebra, I'll teach you guys how to…" Finn paused for dramatic effect, tapping her chin with her fingertips, "Make bang snaps." She finalised with a grin.

"What are those?" Sophia asked.  
"You don't know what bang snaps are? Are you kidding?" Finn laughed, glancing quickly to Lori and Carol as she spoke to make sure there were no objections.

"Bang snaps are tiny little fire work crackers, when you throw them against something they explode." Finn said, emphasizing the danger of the small novelty explosives she used to make with her daddy when she was younger.

"Awesome!" The kids enthused.

As darkness began to settle over the camp and Finn settled in next to the others by the fire as they passed dinner around, she couldn't help but feel a little lucky that Daryl had shot her. Despite the searing pain and soon to be scar, she'd found a group that still held a little normality.

"This is awesome, I don't know the last time I ate like this," Finn enthused taking a forkful of the fish fry in her mouth and revelling in the sweet, buttery taste.

"All thanks to Andrea and Amy," Lori smiled, hiding the worry in her eyes as best she could.

"Hey, it was Dale's equipment, we just managed to attract a hefty lot of fish with it," Andrea laughed.

"Did you fish a lot when you were kids?" Finn asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, our dad was pretty big on taking us out fishing whenever he could," Amy replied with a sweet smirk, nudging her sister in some kind of inside joke.

"I suck at fishing," Finn laughed "My dad always used to say it was something about my voice, just repelled all of the fish…which now that I think about it was probably a pretty big insult." The group broke into cheerful giggles at Finn's revelation, just as Amy got up from her seat.

"Where you going?" Andrea asked.

"I gotta pee…geez you try to be discreet around here," Amy replied, causing the laughter to continue even more.

The light heartedness of the conversation was abruptly interrupted by Amy's scream, the group stood, turning to see Amy being bitten by a rogue walker near the RV.  
"Amy!" Andrea yelled but Finn tried to ignore it. She grabbed the gun from her waistband and shot at the walker, managing to hit it in the temple, taking it down immediately. She would have felt a sense of calm, had the rest of the walkers not begun to rip apart the camp. Finn heard the kids start to scream and turned to try and find them, seeing Lori holding onto Carl with all her strength, Finn ran up to them as fast as she could with her injured leg.

"I want you all to go and get in the RV, right now, I'll make sure nothing gets in as long as you all stay put," Finn urged, "Come on!" She yelled over the commotion, Shane helped lead them towards the RV, Lori, Carl, Sophia and Carol all climbed inside and Finn made sure to barricade the door behind them.  
"Watch them," Shane ordered Finn before he ran off, shot gun in hand. Finn was about to reply but a walker appeared out of nowhere, knocking her down almost instantly, her bad leg buckling beneath her. She fumbled for the knife at her thigh before plunging it deep into the corpse's eye. It came to a standstill just as another walker bounded towards Finn. Rolling onto her side, she narrowly escaped its prying hands, she pushed herself up and shot it twice. She scrambled back to the RV, looking quickly in the window to make sure none of the geeks had managed to get inside.

Her heart beat a hundred miles an hour in her chest as she tried to overcome the fear that was building in her chest. Her hand started to shake as two walkers came at her at once, struggling to keep her gun steady, she held her knife in her other hand as a back up plan. One of the walkers collided with her and she managed to shoot it in time, but this allowed the second walker to knock her back against the RV, its mouth just inches from her throat, with only the strength in her left arm keeping it away. Just as she was praying for it to all be over quickly, the walker was gone, an arrow piercing its skull. Finn glanced to her side, nodding thanks to Daryl, who still had his crossbow aimed towards her. He acknowledged her thanks so subtly that if she'd blinked, she'd have missed it.

A mere thirty minutes since Amy's first scream and the camp had gone completely silent. There were people crying, screaming but most of all, there were people lying dead all around the camping ground. People who just minutes ago, Finn had been sat next to, enjoying dinner and conversation as if this whole apocalypse thing was just a myth. She took a minute to sit down, wiping tears from her eyes as her bloodied hands continued to shake.

"You get bit?" A rough voice asked from above her and she looked up from her hands to see Daryl stood.

"No, nothing," Finn replied, struggling to form words without stuttering.

"I'll take a look at that leg if you want, bandage looks shot," He grumbled, kneeling down and removing the stained bandage from her leg. The wound was bleeding badly, the stitches mostly ripped open.

"Shoulda been in the RV with the rest of the women, ain't in no fit state to be fightin' off walkers on your own."  
"Hey, you swooped in just in time, who said I was on my own?" Finn joked, but she was trembling in her seat, unable to stop her teeth from chattering. Daryl bandaged her leg up quickly, not bothering to redo the stitches.

"What happened with your brother?" Finn asked quietly.

"Who told you?" Daryl scowled, immediately backing off.

"Dale told me, I'm sorry if you didn't find him…or if you did find him but he was…you know," Finn looked down at her hands.

"You ain't got that thing in your head that tells you when to shut the hell up do you?" Daryl scoffed angrily, tossing a blanket down beside Finn.

Finn fought back the urge to cry, finding herself suddenly a little overly emotional which struck her as more frightening than the walkers she'd just faced.  
"Sorry," She muttered as he walked away, yet she couldn't help but be intrigued by Daryl, despite his tough exterior, he had been the only one to tend to her bleeding wound and throw a blanket down beside her. She took note of that fact for future reference, after all, a girl's got to know who's worth saving during an apocalypse.


	4. Chapter 4

_Here we go, the next chapter for you! Thank you so much for the reviews, I really appreciate it and keep them coming!_

_There's something about this chapter that I really liked, I'm trying to write Finn as a relatively light hearted character with quite a simple back story, I wanted her to have the 'girl next door' kind of effect. So let me know what you think._

Chapter Four

Finn pulled her dark hair into a ponytail and packed all of her things back into her bag, the CDC was next on the group's list. At first she'd felt uncomfortable with the idea heading off with the group but Rick had reassured her that it was for the best. After all, she was on her own, injured and the woods were growing more and more attractive to the walkers with the food running out in the city.

She threw her back over her shoulder and limped across to where the group were discussing their plans. One of the families had already decided to leave, causing a run of tearful goodbyes that made Finn feel a little awkward. Something in the back of her head was still trying to convince her to leave, head to the city and see it for herself. Curiosity was always her weak point.

"Mind if I jump in your truck with you? Not in the mood to sit with someone who's all bleeding and pukey," Finn said quietly to Daryl as he walked over to his truck.

"You for real?" Daryl questioned with a scowl, Finn couldn't put her finger on what he found so irritating about her but she shrugged it off as best she could.

"I'm sorry about what I said but that's no excuse to be rude, I'm riding with you, in your truck whether you like it or not," Finn crossed her arms over her chest and tried to make her 5'5 frame look at least a little bit intimidating. Daryl stared at her but just shook his head, choosing to stay silent.

Finn climbed into the truck and rolled the window down, taking a book out of her bag she relaxed into the passenger seat. Daryl climbed in moments later and started the engine, following the other vehicles along the road away from camp. An hour must have past before he spoke, glancing over towards Finn, her nose buried in a heavy leather book.

"I seen you sat back at camp clearin' out a load of useless junk you got in that bag, you didn't think to get rid of the book?" Daryl scoffed and Finn looked up, turning herself to look at him with a smirk.

"Books, plural," She smiled and Daryl noticed the twinkle in her eye.

"I was studying for my doctorate before this all happened, was about to write my dissertation on the comparison of modern literature and classic literature. A lot of reading involved," She shook her head, "I'd filled my backpack with books so that while I was camping I could finish my research, couldn't bring myself to throw away the last piece of my old life," She finalised, causing Daryl to go completely silent again. She suddenly felt bad for turning his first attempt at light hearted conversation into some deep, meaningful moment so she thought on her feet, so to speak.

"I sort of regret it now though," Finn laughed.

"Why's that?" Daryl asked as if uninterested whilst he chewed on his thumbnail.

"Because when I was packing my things and trying to fit all my books into my bag, I realised I didn't have enough space. So I took out a pack of twinkie's and a pack of oreo's to make room for those damn books," She paused with a sigh, "Now I feel like I would murder someone with my bare hands just to smell an oreo cookie again."

Even Daryl laughed, well, more of a grunt, but there was a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

"I have a major sugar problem. 95 percent of my diet was made up of cookies and red vines, I swear," Finn reminisced.

"Doesn't explain why you didn't throw the books away at camp," Daryl said.

Finn lifted her shoulders in a shrug, "I already lost out on the junk food, I'd rather know that at least I sacrificed my love of sugar for something worth my while. I am going to read these books until the pages are falling away from the spines. Makes me feel like I didn't make a huge mistake," She replied.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess," Daryl said.

"I really am sorry if what I said about your brother offended you, you're right, I don't have the thing in my head that tells me to shut up. I think it's a defence mechanism, I literally keep talking crap until someone shuts me up and even then, it isn't guaranteed I'll be quiet," She paused, looking at Daryl's somewhat vacant expression.

"So I'm sorry."

"Whatever, it's fine. Ain't gunna cry over it like a lil' bitch."

"I dunno, I think you look like the crying like a little bitch type," Finn joked, causing Daryl to shoot her a look that could kill.

"Easy tiger, remember, thing in my head that doesn't shut me up, I'm not responsible for that comment."

"Yeah, whatever," He mumbled, just before a frown appeared on his brow, the RV began to slow down as smoke appeared from the hood.

Finn climbed out of the truck, limping towards the RV to find Dale, Rick and Shane looking puzzled.

"What's up?" She asked, Daryl following behind her.

"Hose is gone, we knew it would, I'd just hoped it'd hold a little longer than this," Dale sighed.

"Can you just duct tape it until the CDC?" Shane asked.

"Thing's more duct tape than hose frankly, plus, I haven't got any left," Dale replied.

"Guys, Jim isn't going to last much longer, the rides killing him," Carol appeared from the RV and said, a strained look on her face.

"Mind if I take a look?" Finn asked, causing Dale's eyebrows to raise in question.

"Of course, go ahead," He enthused.

Finn looked through her bag, finding her climbing pouch she pulled out a roll of climbing tape and a roll of fabric.

"This stuff has saved many a finger, a hose shouldn't be much of a challenge, this is nylon webbing," She said as she wrapped it around the damaged hose.  
"Hold that in place please?" Finn asked and Dale happily pressed his finger against the material as Finn wrapped a layer of climbing tape around the nylon to make it stick.

"Pretty sturdy stuff, should last a while but if not, I've got plenty more, you'll still need to keep an eye out for a new hose but…at least you know we can fix it if need be." Finn smiled, handing the tape and nylon back to Dale.

"Thank you, very much," Dale smiled.

"No problem, least I can do."

At that point, Finn turned to see Rick helping the bitten Jim out of the RV and onto the grass. She quickly got an idea of what was happening due to the solemn look on everyone's face and found herself fidgeting as she limped back to the truck.

It wasn't that she didn't feel bad for the guy, she did, but she'd seen what the infection did to people. She'd watched her friend go through it, seen what it did to a persons body, their brain. Finn wasn't sure she could handle watching it all over again.

"Alright?" Daryl asked as he got back into the truck, starting the engine.  
"Fine," Finn replied, turning her head to look out the window.  
"What you did with the RV, how you know about cars?"

"Oh," Finn shrugged nonchalantly, "My dad, he was a mechanic. Spent most of my weekends at his shop as a kid, couldn't help but learn something." She laughed, slyly wiping a tear from the corner of her eye and forcing a smile.

"Ain't that handy," Daryl said sarcastically.

"So they left him behind, huh?" Finn asked.

"Nothin' to be done for him, the ride was makin' him worse," Daryl said, taking note of the look of sadness in Finn's dark brown eyes.  
"You think the CDC will be the answer everyone's looking for?"

"What kinda question's that? Ain't no answer, the world ended, CDC's gunna be nothin' but a bunch of walkers in lab coats." Daryl hissed, causing Finn to jump back a little.

"You have some problems with your temper, I get that, but I'm just as scared as the next person and it wouldn't hurt to lie to me a little," Finn replied sternly.

Daryl paused for a second, taking one glance at Finn, her arms crossed over her stomach, the bandage at her leg stained with blood and couldn't help but see exactly what she'd just described. She was a scared, young girl with nothing left. He found himself feeling guilty and let out a groan.  
"Fine! CDC's full of oreo's and red vines, sure they've got the cure just sat there waitin' for us to appear. Whole fuckin' welcome party."

Although Daryl's reply had been sarcastic and aggressive, Finn found herself smiling.  
"Thank you," She replied, looking towards him and realising that her smile wasn turning into a grin. She realised that as tough as Daryl appeared, there was something there that she like, she could relate to. Or perhaps annoying him was just far more fun that she had expected.

_Reviews please! And if you haven't already checked it out, here is the link for the trailer I made on youtube for this fic:_

_ watch?v=BVbuFojaqHE_


	5. Chapter 5

_So this is a pretty short chapter but it felt like a good place to finish it, I hope you all enjoy it and please review! Updates may be scarce this week as I have exams at uni so I will be revising as much as possible!_

_Reviews please!_

Chapter Six

Finn sat at the table in the kitchen alone, everyone had followed Jenner to listen to something he wanted to explain to them. Finn hadn't been in the listening mood, something about the doctor creeped her out, he was far too calm and collected considering he was the only guy left at the CDC.

Finn lifted the bottle to her lips and gulped a mouthful of liquor down her throat, it burned its way to her stomach and she shivered. She held her knife in her hand, she twirled the blade against the table, digging a hole in the cheap wood.

"You okay, Finn?" A quiet voice asked and Finn turned to see Lori standing against the doorframe.

"Yeah, just…I don't know, lost in my own thoughts I guess," Finn smiled in reply as she struggled to focus on Lori's form.  
"Apparently there's hot water in this place," Lori said.

"Seriously?" Finn questioned with a frown, "Don't even know if I can remember what hot water feels like."

"Me neither," Lori sighed "I wanted to thank you for what you did with the kids the other day at camp, it's nice to see them have some kind of normality. I'm sure Carol would agree."

"I didn't mind, it was my job, I miss it. Anytime you want me to teach them or…I don't know, take them off your hands," Finn laughed "Just let me know."

"I will, thank you," Lori replied sincerely before turning and making her way out of the room, leaving Finn on her own once again. Finn picked up the knife from the table and threw it directly against the wall, it stuck there, embedded in the plaster.  
"Somethin' botherin' you," Daryl grumbled as he came inside and collapsed into one of the chairs.

"Me? No, happiest girl in the world remember?" Finn smiled a genuine smile, pulling the knife out of the wall and throwing it back down on the table. She took a seat next to Daryl and swallowed another drink.

"I ever apologise for shootin' ya?" Daryl asked, his words slightly slurred.

"Don't think so…I really think you might have to, you know, if our relationship is going to move forward and all," Finn replied matter of factly.

"That right?" Daryl leaned back in his chair, losing his balance as it wobbled, he toppled to the ground. Finn couldn't help but laugh out loud. Daryl shot her a scowl as he propped himself up on his elbows. She covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter.  
"What the hell you cacklin' at?" He hissed, taking a mouthful of the southern comfort that was still in his hand.

"I'm so sorry, it's just," Finn burst out laughing again, tears welling in her eyes, "Your face!" She finished through ragged breaths but her voice was cut off with a thud as Daryl pulled the chair from under her, causing her to crumple to the ground in a pile.

"You asshole!" Finn laughed, grabbing the bottle from his hands as she rolled onto her front, she took a few sips and passed it back, realising that even Daryl seemed to have a somewhat peaceful, amused expression.

"Can handle your liquor for such a small thing," Daryl said, passing her the bottle back.

"Gee thanks," Finn rolled her eyes. Daryl watched her, leaning on her elbow and flashing a touch of pale skin beneath the hem of her vest top. Her long dark hair unravelled in waves over her shoulder.

"You're looking at me like you have ulterior motives, Daryl Dixon," Finn mocked, breaking him from his daydream.

"Whatever," Daryl scoffed.

"Huff and puff all you want, all I know is that it's been a hell of a long time since…" Finn's voiced trailed off, "I'm not sure I can handle my alcohol as well as at first presumed." She laughed nervously, realising that she was being too forward, pushing him to make advances that he didn't want to make. She always did this, had a drink and got far too comfortable with whatever popped into her head. If only she could tear her eyes away from those arms…  
"Now who's doin' the eyeballin'?" Daryl questioned with an apathetic laugh.

The last thing that popped into Finn's head was how stupid she felt, that was before she'd leaned forward and managed to press her lips to his, revelling in the bitter taste of southern comfort. She jumped back seconds later when she realised he hadn't responded, embarrassment flushed her cheeks.

"Sorry," Finn stated, "Not only do I not stop talking but I'm also ridiculously inappropriate, you don't even know me…sorry, I don't know you either but I mean this isn't a good idea. Is it? I don't know," Finn babbled, "I just thought there was chemistry or something but to be honest I don't even think I know what people mean when they say chemistry, it doesn't make sense you know? I mean if you wanna kiss someone, just do it, you shouldn't have to rely on some 'chemistry' nonsense to determine if it's a good idea-" Her rambling stopped as Daryl's lips crashed to hers with an almighty force, clumsy and drunk as he hovered above her, the cold concrete floor causing goose bumps to appear all over her skin. When Daryl pulled away he stared at her with that threatening scowl.

"Am I right in thinking that you kissed me just then? Of your own freewill, not just out of pity for the girl that appears to throw herself at men who shoot her…" Finn continued.

"You need to shut the hell up," Daryl replied before his lips met with hers once more.


	6. Chapter 6

_Enjoy this chapter! It's a pretty full/action packed chapter with some smut thrown in, so I hope you like it. Remember to review!_

Chapter Six

Everything ached as Daryl tumbled on top of her, his mouth against hers as her breaths grew feverish and heavy. She held her hands at the back of his neck as he moved to undo her jeans. There was something in her head not working, she was forgetting everything her mama had told her not to do.

Something about Daryl excited her, gave her those butterflies in her stomach that you always got when you were a kid about to go on a rollercoaster. As she ripped his shirt open and moved to push it over his shoulders he grabbed her wrists, moving them above her head. She took note of the desperate expression echoing in his eyes and decided to leave the undressing to him. As his hand moved over her underwear and she stifled a moan, it had been a year since she'd been touched by anyone and the slightest flick of his finger sent a torpedo of sensations through her. His eyes flickered over her for only a second before he removed her panties, tossing them aside before he leaned down, his tongue running over her inner thigh. Her back arched against the cool floor as her hands clung to Daryl's forearm, her nails digging into the skin as the need to have him consumed her. His hands moved either side of her as he hovered over her, grabbing her hips he moved her onto his lap as he pushed himself inside of her.

A gasp escaped Finn's lips as Daryl's pace quickened; she could hardly stop herself from screaming as she held onto his broad shoulders. Finn was almost certain sex had never been like this in the past, she'd only ever slept with one other person, her ex college boyfriend and this was completely different. All she wanted to do was get closer to Daryl, pull herself flush into his chest and breathe in the musky, masculine scent that clung to his skin. As Daryl's breath tickled at her collarbone and his rough, calloused hands glided over her bare back, she found her entire stomach clenching, the pleasure building deep inside her core. She moved herself over him as his movements grew frantic and desperate, the sound of their gasps and moans the only thing filling the silence before everything went blank. Finn's mind cleared as she revelled in her own climax, Daryl thrust inside of her deeper, burying himself inside of her. Their movements halted, as Finn collapsed her forehead on his shoulder, panting in an attempt to catch her breath.

Awkwardness soon reared its ugly head as Finn moved back, still astride Daryl, to look into his eyes.

"So that was unexpected," She said nervously, Daryl glanced back at her.

"I better get out of here before someone shows up…" Finn added, standing up and hunting for her clothes. She quickly pulled on her own shorts and vest as Daryl buttoned his own jeans.

"I guess I'll…catch you tomorrow," Daryl said, the casual tone of his voice surprising Finn into raising an eyebrow at him.

"You mean you aren't going to propose to me right now? I suppose I can wait until tomorrow but…" Finn teased, causing Daryl's face to drop.

"Joking," Finn held up her hands, grabbing the bottle of southern comfort from the table and taking a much needed to swig.

"Here," Finn said, passing it to Daryl, "You look like you could use it." She grinned, making her way out of the room. As she exited into the hallway and closed the door, she leaned against the wall and smiled to herself, taking a moment in her happy, tipsy state to enjoy the images left over of what had just happened.

Finn rolled over in her make shift bed, she'd voted against sleeping on the sofa and had built up a nest of towels and a sleeping bag on the floor instead. She was shocked into consciousness as the door slammed open, she tried to focus her vision but the mixture of left over alcohol in her system and the bright lights were making it difficult.

"Get the hell up, now!" Daryl yelled as he grabbed her stuff and shoved it into her bag.  
"What in gods name…" She mumbled, standing up, forgetting about the fact she was wearing nothing but her underwear and vest.

"Place is about twenty minutes from goin' up in a blaze of glory, I don't plan on lettin' you sleep through that," Daryl stated, throwing a pair of shorts towards Finn. Urgently, she scrambled into them and grabbed her books and weapons, pushing her gun into the waistband of her shorts and tying her knife to her hip.

"Come on, let's go!" Daryl yelled, passing Finn the bag. She grabbed it and threw it over her shoulder, jogging after Daryl as panic began to set in.

"What do you mean, Daryl?" Finn asked but Daryl stayed completely silent.

"Daryl!" Finn stopped in her tracks, waiting for an answer.

"Get moving, not much time!" Daryl grabbed her wrist and dragged her down the hallway. As they reached the main hall, Daryl pushed Finn up the stairs as quickly as possible. She barely had a chance to glance around, all that she took note of was the panicked, frightened looks on everyone's faces…most importantly, Jenner's.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia whined, holding onto her mother as Rick and Shane tried to break through the solid glass. Daryl left her side and tried to help the others but it was no use.

"The place was set to explode," Finn muttered to herself, "Get rid of everything…" She continued, too quietly for anyone else to hear. Finn watched as Carol walked over to Rick, handing him something and quietly talking.

"Get down! Everybody get down!" Rick yelled and Finn backed herself around one of the walls, ducking down and shielding herself.

The explosion was ear shattering and stunned Finn into dizziness, she managed to pick herself up and urged Carol and Sophia to move in front of her through the hole in the side of the building. She took one last look at the CDC before taking off in a run as fast as she could with her injured leg, Finn dived inside Daryl's truck as she pulled her legs up to her chest.

"Get down, in front of the seat, get down!" Daryl yelled, covering her with his own body just as the CDC erupted, bright orange flames contrasting with black smoke, turning whatever hope was left into ashes.


	7. Chapter 7

_Here we go, another chapter for you lovely people! Thank you to deanandjo3ever1 and momoXvolturi for your reviews over the last few chapters and everyone else that has reviewed this story so far, I really appreciate it, keep them coming!_

Chapter Seven

The sun was blazing down as Finn drove Daryl's truck behind the RV, he followed on the motorcycle. It was only as they rounded the corner that all of the vehicles came to an abrupt halt, the road was blocked by a herd of broken down, abandoned vehicles. Finn stepped out of the truck, walking towards the RV as everyone exited into the scalding heat.

"RV's down again," Dale muttered, wiping a hand across his forehead.

"We should scavenge for parts, see if we can find any food and water whilst we're at it," Finn replied, shielding her own eyes from the sun.

"We'll see if we can find the problem but I'm willing to put money on it that the hose is gone again, maybe even the battery, I don't know," Dale said and Finn nodded.

"I'll see what I can find," She smiled, each of the group heading off towards the vehicles in a search for any much needed supplies. The group hadn't eaten in days and water was running short, Finn could feel the affect it was having on her body as she jumped up into the back of the first truck she came to, searching through the numerous bags.

"Here," T-Dog came up to her, passing her a half empty bottle of water.

"What's this for?" Finn asked with a smile.

"Just take it, you need to stay hydrated, the heat out here's unbelievable," He replied and Finn gratefully took the water.

"I don't need this anymore than the next person," She said "But thank you." Finn finalised, nodding in gratitude as she gulped down the somewhat warm water.

"You're welcome, yell if you need a hand," T-Dog waved as he walked off towards another of the vehicles.

"Hey, good looking!" Finn yelled as she pulled a large dagger from a clasp at the side of one of the corpses in the passenger seat. Daryl glanced up with a raised brow as she flashed her new weapon.

"Real hunting knife," Finn smiled, running a finger gently along the blade, "Sharp too." She pushed the knife into her own holster at her waist.

"Do you have no respect?" Carol asked as she passed by with Lori, Finn turned to glance at her in shock. Carol had barely said a word to her since Finn had joined the group, never mind a bad one.

"I respect the fact that this'll be more useful to me than it was him," Finn replied as kindly as she could, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Finn added as she jumped out of the truck and walked passed Carol and Lori, feeling slightly guilty for her brash statement.

As she popped the hood of the first van she found, she started rummaging through the parts. Most of main parts of the engine had cracked or rusted from sitting in the humidity for so long but she managed to find a hose that was a little better looking than the one in Dale's RV.

She was distracted momentarily by a call from Dale and a scream from one of the children. She turned around, her eyes widening at what she seen. A hoard of walkers, far too large to fight off, was headed directly towards the group.

"Holy crap," She muttered, glancing around herself as she tried to find somewhere to hide but her mind had gone blank. She seen Sophia panicking as she too looked for somewhere to hide, as quickly as Finn could, she ran towards the little girl and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her directly underneath one of the trucks, Carol and Lori were hiding beneath another vehicle opposite.

"I need you to lie here and be still, okay? Keep looking at your mama and don't make a sound," Finn ordered and Sophia nodded, tears running down her face.

Realising that there wasn't enough space for Finn to hide beneath the same vehicle, she scrambled out from beneath the car and ran towards the truck she'd been in moments before. Finn jumped in the back and covered herself up with whatever junk she could find, pulling the corpse up on top of her with a struggle. The shuffling moved past her and she tried to control her breathing, her heartbeat racing in her ears. It grew quiet and there was another sudden scream, this time she recognised it as Sophia. Without thinking, Finn pulled herself up out of the truck, only to be confronted with at least ten walkers.  
"Shit," She managed to whisper to herself, kicking one of the walkers away she made and effort to take a running jump to the roof of the next car, narrowly escaping one of the hands trying to capture her. In a moment of confidence she jumped again, clinging to the side of a large truck before pulling herself up onto the roof and staying there. She watched with terror as Sophia ran into the woods, two walkers hot on her tracks. Finn tried to stop herself, tried to talk herself out of being an idiot but before she could get a word in edge ways, she had jumped down from the truck and ran off after Sophia, cursing her own stupidity.

The woods were eerily quiet as she ran in the same direction Sophia had; in the distance, slightly to the west she could here groans and shuffling, the muffled frightened whimpers of Sophia barely audible. Her legs carried her quickly off after the sounds and she jumped down on top of one of the walkers with ferocious intent, stabbing the new dagger into its temple as she tried to fight off the next one.

"Run, Sophia! Hide by the river bed and stay there until I get you!" Finn yelled, trying to wrestle the walkers head away from her shoulder with all the strength she could muster. Sophia didn't move.

"Go! I'll be fine, GO!" Finn shouted, this time allowing anger to consume her voice, Sophia ran off towards the river and Finn managed to punch the walkers face away from her own. She caught a glimpse of another walker heading her way and used all of her strength to stab the walker on top of her in the eye. It went limp and Finn only just managed to push it from her, dizziness consuming her as the heat belted down onto her skin. Finn made a conscious effort to run away from the river, shouting towards the third, stumbling walker as she did so.

"Come on you piece of shit! Come get it!" Finn jogged slow enough to catch its attention and it turned clumsily to follow her.  
"All you can eat, come on," She urged, taking a second to glance back at the river only to see Sophia climbing out from where Finn had told her to hide and running off into the distance.  
"Shit!" She cursed, just narrowly escaping the one walker that she'd encouraged to follow her, two more came into sight and Finn realised that with the mixture of dehydration and exhaustion, she didn't have the strength to fight anymore. Cursing herself as she tried to push down her guilt and panic, Finn ran back towards the roadside.

She clambered up the steep side and crawled her way back onto the road, struggling to get to her feet.

"You didn't get her?" Carol whimpered as Finn limped back towards the RV.

"I told her to hide," Finn panted, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, "She must have freaked out and ran."

"You didn't follow her?" Carol cried, Lori's arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

"There were too many walkers," Finn replied, struggling to hold back tears herself, "I couldn't…" She continued, but oxygen wasn't reaching her lungs, "I couldn't fight any more of them…I'm sorry, I just…" Finn babbled, Shane rested a hand on her shoulder momentarily, a silent gesture of comfort. Finn walked away, unable to look Carol in the eye.

"Rick and Daryl went after you, they'll find her, don't worry," Dale said in an attempt to make her feel better.

"I better go tell them where I sent her, she couldn't have gotten far," Finn moved to walk back into the woods but her legs collapsed beneath her.

"No, no way, you're exhausted. You've been driving that truck all through the night, you need to sit down and have some water," Dale said, helping Finn get to her feet as he sat her down next to T-Dog.

"What the hell happened to you?" Finn asked, suddenly feeling more alert in her wave of panic, she took note of the bleeding wound on T-Dog arm.

"Demon car door," T-Dog muttered through clenched teeth.

"Hasn't this been a great day," Finn groaned, taking a mouthful of the water Dale had passed her. She tried not to worry about Sophia, but the guilt and regret was burning into her chest and every time she closed her eyes, she seen that frightened little girl's face.


	8. Chapter 8

_Here's the next chapter guys, enjoy! Reviews are awesome!_

Chapter Eight

Finn cleaned her knife by the RV, it was dark and the moon was full and high in the sky. She brushed furiously at the blood stained blade, trying to distract herself from the events of the day.

"Scrub it any harder there wont be no blade," Daryl said as he appeared from the RV, hovering over her with an inquisitive expression. Finn tossed the blade aside and wiped down over her face with her hands.  
"You're tired, go sleep, no use sittin' here feelin' sorry for yourself," Daryl stated matter of factly, causing Finn to stand up, her relatively short frame meaning she had to look up at Daryl.

"Feeling sorry for myself? You think that's what I'm doing?" Finn questioned with a scoff and Daryl awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other.

Finn let out a long, slow breath, "I ran after her, she was right there and I was too busy trying to fight off the walkers to notice that she was absolutely terrified," She began, "I should have kicked the walkers back, grabbed Sophia and ran back to the roadside. I was too busy trying to be the goddamn hero to even…" Finn bit down on her bottom lip, shaking her head.

"I'm a clueless idiot, I shouldn't have even bothered running after her. What did I think I would do? What the hell ran through my head when I thought I could…" She looked to ground, a few stubborn tears filling her eyes. Finn felt the rough warmth of Daryl's hand around the back of her neck and she moved to glance at him.

"Didn't see no one else runnin' after her, it was stupid but it was brave. You fought off a load of walkers and you're still alive, you tried. No one else did," Daryl said with a frown, his hand dropping from the back of Finn's neck as he hoisted his crossbow further up onto his shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up bout shit like that."

"You going to look for her again?" Finn asked and Daryl merely nodded.

"I'll get my stuff, come with you," Finn added, turning to grab her weapons but Daryl gripped at her arm, pulling her back and stopping her from moving.  
"Stay here, keep watch," Daryl said turning and stalking off into the woods. Finn realised he was only telling her to keep watch because he didn't want to hurt her feelings in saying she would hold him back, but accepted that and climbed atop the RV.

As Daryl returned from his search early that morning, Finn was already busy working on the RV. She'd managed to find a jump start and change the hose, water and oil and was waiting for the rest of the group to wake up so that she could try it out. Daryl came up to her, passing her a bottle of water, she accepted it and wiped a hand across her forehead.

"Better watch you don't get heat stroke standin' still out here," Daryl said.

"Suns still low, I'm finished anyways, just didn't want to wake everyone up by trying to start it up." Finn said, leaning against the hood of the RV.

"If the RV's up and runnin' we'll need to get headin' to that farm, see what the deal is."

Finn shook her head, "Who knew the apocalypse would be so freaking difficult."

"Come on, I wanna show you somethin'," Daryl said, causing Finn to frown towards him.  
"What?" She asked.

"Come on," Daryl walked ahead of her, moving in between the abandoned cars, Finn turned around for just a second and when she looked back in front of her, Daryl had disappeared.

"Daryl?" She called quietly, looking around herself. Within a second a hand was over her mouth and she was being brought down to the ground. As the hand let her go she turned to see Daryl with a smirk.

"What, no fight left in ya?" Daryl asked.

"You, fine sir, are an asshole," Finn laughed, punching Daryl in the shoulder.

"What are you supposed to be showing me exactly?" Finn folded her arms and awaited his reply.  
"This," He replied, Finn looked around herself, realising that they were sat in a clearing between the cars, the confusion showed on her face.

"What?" Finn repeated, turning back to Daryl who captured her mouth with his, catching her off guard. She moved her arms around his neck as he lay her on the warm ground, hovering above her.

"A girl doesn't even get dinner anymore?" Finn asked, pulling away from him for a second. Daryl looked surprised, clearly not knowing what to say.

"I was kidding," Finn replied, instantly lightening the mood and meeting his lips once again. The pair of them rushed to get undressed, Daryl placing his crossbow to the side and taking a quick glance around to make sure there was no signs of danger.

In one sudden movement with their mouths moulded to one another's, Daryl pushed his entire length deep inside her. Finn let out a loud gasp as her hands dug into the skin of Daryl's arms. Their movements were nothing like they had been a few nights before; instead they were rushed and desperate, clinging to each other as he moved inside her. Daryl kept a hold of Finn's hips so hard that she was convinced there would be bruises but she didn't care, all that mattered was that she was so deliciously close to her climax. As it overcame her, everything trembled and ached, sweat moistening their skin as they lay together for just a few moments.

Once Daryl had buttoned his trousers and Finn found all of her discarded clothes they stood and began their way back to camp in silence.

"It was really nice meeting you," Finn joked on their way back to the RV, Daryl looked towards her for a second and then glanced away.

"Is all the sex supposed to be an apology for shooting me? Or is it just an added bonus?" She continued, realising that the awkwardness between them seemed to have reappeared. Finn grabbed Daryl's arm, bringing him to a halt.

"I get it, apocalypse, stress…the sex," She paused, laughing a little, "It's something not stressful, not depressing or apocalyptic or…it's good. I get that it's nothing more than that, you don't have to go all silent and fidgety," Finn stated.

Daryl waited for a minute before he spoke, a frown penetrating his brow as if he were wondering if it was a trick question.

"Okay," He said finally.  
"So if we're going to do the whole sex thing...get over the dark and brooding thing you've got going on," Finn smiled, bumping her shoulder into Daryl as she walked, causing him to smirk just a little in reply.

"So we're clear," Daryl added.

"Clear as crystal, Dixon. Don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles." Finn added before she jogged towards the RV, climbing into the driver's seat and starting it up. The engine roared to life and Daryl watched as she held her arms up in the air in a victory pose. He smiled somewhat reluctantly to himself, wondering how he managed to get a girl like that to sleep with him with no strings attached. Daryl shook his head, hoisted his crossbow further up onto his shoulder and walked back into the woods to start the search all over again.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sorry it's taken a couple of days but here it is. I've been working on a couple of new fanfictions (An x-men Wolverine/OC and a Supernatural Dean/OC) and I'm also headed to Jamaica tomorrow for just over a week so updates may be a bit slower. I have got a few written in advance so hopefully I'll manage to keep up._

_Please remember to review if you have the time. _

Chapter Nine

The road to the farm was long and bumpy, Finn found herself being thrown up out of her seat and cursing as her head hit into the roof of Daryl truck.

"Trust me to get stuck in the only car without suspension," She hissed as she went over another bump, her head hitting the roof for what felt like the hundredth time.

She pulled up outside the farm house and immediately raised a hand over her eyes to shield herself from the sun.

"Whoa," She said to herself, studying the large house in front of her. She'd never had a house like this one, she wasn't even sure if she'd seen one. Fair enough it wasn't some kind of millionaires mansion but Finn was far more accustomed to a studio flat in the run down part of town or a cabin with mouldy windows in need of a serious make over. Lori appeared from the farm house and Finn immediately jogged over to her, ignoring the pain in her leg.

"How is he? Is he okay?" Finn asked urgently, grasping Lori's hands.  
"He's doing better, thanks to Hershel," Lori replied with a relieved smile.

"Thank god," Finn hugged Lori tightly, pulling away as the RV pulled up.

"How's Carol?" Lori asked quietly, sympathy filling her eyes.

"She won't talk to me, won't even have me in the same room. As far as I know, she isn't feeling so great."

"It isn't anything personal, Finn, we tried to explain to her in the woods that you did nothing wrong but…" Lori began but Finn stopped her.

"She can be angry at whoever she wants; her daughter's missing, if blaming me makes her feel better than I'm okay with that."

"It's been a hard few days," Lori sighed.

"No shit," Finn scoffed, just as an older man with white hair made his way out of the farmhouse, he walked over to the pair.

"Carl's awake, he's asking for you," The man told Lori and she immediately turned and made her way back into the house.  
"I'm Finn, Finn Clara," Finn introduced herself, holding a hand out for him to shake. He accepted gratefully.

"Hershel Greene, that's quite an unusual name," He said.  
"It's Finnegan, my dad was fully responsible," She laughed nervously, "Beautiful home you've got," Finn said as the pair walked slowly towards the house.

"Thank you, been in my family for generations."  
"Looks like you could use some retiling up there, wood looks pretty worn," Finn said, pointing up towards the roof of the property. Hershel glanced at her in surprise.

Finn laughed, "I lived in a cabin in the woods my whole life, any repairs that needed done got done by me," She explained.

"I can take a look sometime if you want, it'd be the least I could do."

"Well that would be a great help, usually our farm hand took care of that sorta thing but…" Hershel's voice quietened as he glanced towards the ground.

"Don't mention it, I'll start some work this afternoon if nothing comes up," Finn added just as Daryl made his way up behind her, tapping her on the arm.

"I'm gunna get back out into the woods, see if we missed anything," He stated.

"Need a hand? I promised Hershel I'd get some repairs done on the house for him this afternoon but I could follow you out once I'm finished."

"No, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," Daryl's voice went somewhat quiet.

"What?" Finn frowned.

"Carol doesn't want you out lookin' for Sophia," He added.

Finn raised her eyebrows in question, "Excuse you?"  
"Says she doesn't trust you, I know it's stupid but she's pretty torn up, didn't wanna let you walk right into the line of fire if you get what I'm sayin'." Although Finn appreciated Daryl's warning, her stomach ached with guilt. She bit down on her lip and glanced towards the ground.

"Sure," She replied quietly, turning away from Daryl, but he grabbed her arm and spun her round.

"You don't have anythin' to be stressin' about, Carol's just lookin' for someone to blame."

"I get it," Finn tore her arm away from Daryl and continued making her way up into the farmhouse. She wasn't angry, how could she be angry at someone whose daughter was missing?

Finn strolled through one of the fields, dumping what was left of the scrap wood she'd been using to fix up Hershel's farmhouse. It was only as she stood up to wipe her brow that she heard a commotion in the distance. She began walking towards the chattering to find a large group summoned around the well.

"You sound like a bunch of old women bickering," Finn laughed as she made her way over. Noticing the unfamiliar face of a woman, she walked over to her.

"Hey, I'm Finn, the girl that's been butchering your house for the last three hours," She laughed and the girl shook her hand with a smile.

"Maggie Greene," She replied.

"What's the drama this time?" Finn asked.

"There's a walker in the well," Glenn replied.

"Well, there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear," Finn muttered to herself as she walked over to the well, cursing as she took note of the gruesome, bloated walker trapped down there.

"We're trying to decide who gets to be the lucky one to go down there," Dale added.

"Correction, you were trying to get me to go down there," Glenn added, folding his arms and shaking his head.

"I can do it, I seem to be playing miss fix it today, why stop now…" She said, trying to ignore the reasoning for her sudden, overly helpful attitude. Finn noticed the looks of surprise and doubt on each of their faces.

"Climber remember? I did free climbing, I'm used to stopping myself from falling to my death in situations like these ones, trust me," Finn said, walking over to the well and sitting on the edge.

"Here," Shane tied a rope around her waist, tugging it to make sure that it was tight.

"Just…make sure you hold on tight, okay? I really don't want this to be the way I die," Finn said, butterflies swarming her stomach as she looked down towards the walker.

"Just me and you buddy," She grumbled.

"Make sure you get this hooked over it, we should be able to pull it up that way," Glenn explained, passing Finn another piece of rope.

"Yes sir," She sighed as she lowered herself into the well, keeping her shoulders pressed up against the back wall and her feet tightly pressed against the opposite side, making sure not to put too much weight on the rope.

"Nice deformed zombie…" Finn said to herself as she got closer to the walkers outstretched arms, "Play nice, please, you don't wanna be trapped in this well forever." She continued, more for her own benefit.

"I know I don't," Finn added as she walked herself slowly down the well, her muscles beginning to ache as the stone grazed the bare skin of her shoulders. Her foot suddenly lost grip on the stone and she scraped down the sides of the well, the rope quickly coming into play and tugging her up just a few inches.

"You alright?" A voice yelled from the top.

"What kind of stupid ass question is that?!" Finn shouted back before throwing the rope over the awaiting walker. She adjusted her position slightly and tried to pull herself back up the inside of the well.  
"Pull!" She yelled, causing an almighty pull on the rope, as she partially climbed her way back up to the top, the walker being dragged behind her. Finn tumbled back over the edge of the well, still helping pull on the rope attached to the walker.

"It's stuck!" Maggie announced, an almighty splash coming from the well below the walkers shoulders.

"How much are we willing to bet that this thing has two collectable parts instead of just one?" Finn stated.  
"Damn it!" Shane cursed as they pulled the top half of the walker's torso onto the ground. T-Dog swiftly killed it, as the rest of the group peered down into the now contaminated well.

"We can block this one off, make sure it doesn't contaminate anything else," Maggie groaned, wiping a hand over her forehead.

"I don't know about anyone else but I'm really happy that he's the one that ended up in two pieces and not me," Finn shrugged but everyone else looked relatively agitated and exhausted.

"Just me that's happy about my pulse then? Excellent," Finn added sarcastically, wandering back off towards the camp.


	10. Chapter 10

_So this chapter is a little shorter but it felt like a good place to finish it. I got a great review from Best Buy Seasons and it's got me concentrating a little more on Finn's character, so try not to dislike her somewhat brashness in the next few chapters. _

_Reviews are awesome!_

Chapter Ten

Finn walked back to camp in a somewhat dazed state, she knew that she was trying to keep herself busy. She'd been banned from searching for Sophia and sitting around camp was only going to drive her crazy. A part of her also didn't love the idea of Daryl being out searching on his own. Shaking the last thought from her mind, she climbed over the fence and back towards the farmhouse. She was brought to a halt as she seen Carol hanging up laundry by the RV.

Carol had barely come outside since Sophia went missing, other than a couple searches she had gone on, Finn hadn't seen her.

"Hey…" Finn said as she walked towards Carol, realising that the best thing to do was probably to talk to her herself.

"Hi," Carol replied bluntly, her eyes not meeting Finn's.

"I know I'm the last person you want to speak to, I get it…I put her under that truck to hide, I didn't stay with her…" Finn paused momentarily before continuing, she'd now got Carol's full attention but judging by the anger and pain evident in her eyes, that wasn't a good thing.

"And then I didn't bring her back to you after I chased through the woods. I get it, I don't blame you for blaming me," Finn added but at this point, Carol had stormed off back into the RV. For a second Finn wanted to cry and stomp her feet but she fought back the urge and instead, marched towards the RV herself. She walked in to find Carol on the bed, crying. The site broke her heart and she instantly felt like a terrible person.

"I'm sorry I didn't bring her back, I'm sorry I didn't stay under that truck and hide with her but if I had the walkers would've probably found us even quicker, there wasn't enough space…I did what I could to keep her safe." Finn added and Carol sat up to look at her.

"I don't understand," Carol whimpered, "How you went into those woods seconds after her…and didn't bring her back," She said quietly. The sound of those words brought guilt and agony to Finn's heart; that was the same thing she'd been asking herself since it had happened.

"I chased into those woods after her," Finn sat down on the bed opposite Carol, making sure to keep eye contact, "I heard the walkers and ran towards them, Sophia was cornered by two of them with another one close behind. I took down the first walker easily, the second one went down with a struggle. As I was wrestling with it, I told Sophia to run and hide by the river bed. She didn't move. If I had been thinking straight, if a walker hadn't been trying to eat me…I'd have noticed how frightened she was and grabbed her and ran with her. But I didn't. I shouted at her to go, that I would be fine as long as she hid," Finn's voice broke, she wiped one tear from the corner of her eye as Carol watched her, her eyes filled with intensity.

"She hid, I watched her. But as soon as I had to fight the third walker she must have gotten frightened, thought I was going to be killed and I wouldn't come back for her. She ran, there were more walkers coming and I didn't have the strength to fight them. I ran back to the road, I thought that Sophia would…" Finn stopped, her eyes falling on the white flower placed delicately on the nightstand.

"Daryl brought it for me," Carol said, noticing Finn's attention had wavered.

"He did?" Finn asked, trying to sound nonchalant.  
"He said that he thinks it grew for Sophia," Carol added but there was something cruel in her tone and jealousy threatened Finn. She pushed the feeling from her as best she could and stood up.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry but I was just an unprepared as the next person," Finn said, standing up and making her way out of the RV. Unable to stop herself any longer, she let the tears spill over and run down her cheeks as she made her way across camp.

"What the hell?" Daryl questioned as he caught up with Finn, she swiftly wiped the tears away and looked towards him.  
"What?" Finn asked.

"Thought you was the happiest girl in the world or some shit?" He asked as they walked.  
"I'm not really feeling so chirpy right now, you know, since I seem to be getting the blame for Sophia being missing," Finn came to a halt as they turned the corner around the back of the barn.

"You spoke to Carol?"

"No, I spoke _at_ Carol, explained exactly what happened, I thought it would help yet for some reason, her daughter seemed to be the last thing on her mind as she started throwing roses in my face," Finn replied, instantly regretting the last thing she had said, Daryl stared at her for a minute, anger and confusion clearly dwelling behind his eyes.  
"It isn't my fault she didn't stay where I told her to, I told her to hide, she didn't listen to me, what was I supposed to do? There were at least three more walkers, I hadn't eaten, I hadn't had enough water, I didn't have the goddamn strength to fight all of them and then run after that little girl. I would've gotten myself killed, maybe both of us. I'm just as shit scared as everyone else."

"You don't have to explain it to me," Daryl said, causing Finn to go quiet.

"You really took her that flower?" Finn asked quietly, instantly embarrassed.

"Just a flower," Daryl grumbled.

"Do me a favour and just tell me it isn't my fault Sophia's missing," Finn said, Daryl looked towards her.

"You don't need me to tell you that," Daryl replied.

"I do," Finn said, "I really need someone to tell me exactly that." Finn clarified, but instead of talking, Daryl's lips met with hers as he pushed her up against the barn, her arms naturally circling around his neck, but he flinched away from her. Instead, he grabbed her wrists and held them at her side as his mouth attacked hers.


	11. Chapter 11

_Sorry it has taken so long! I've been on holiday and just back yesterday. Here is the next chapter, it's a bit of a filler as there's a lot to happen in the next few chapters._

_Enjoy and review!_

Chapter Eleven

The pair pulled on their clothes in a hurry as the sun began to set across the fields, Finn couldn't help but feel somewhat confused. She understood what she'd said to Daryl about there being no strings attached to their relationship, yet she couldn't help the growing jealousy about the flower he'd given Carol. Despite that, the sex had been a great stress reliever; the rough palms of his hands as he pushed her against the barn had forced any thoughts from the forefront of her mind. Yet now that it was over, everything seemed to come flooding back.

She knew the jealousy was stupid and tried to push the thought from her mind but she just couldn't understand it.

"Never seen you so quiet," Daryl said, breaking Finn from her train of thought.

"Huh?" She replied, wide eyed.

"Heard what you did with that walker, throwin' yourself down that well," Daryl stated as the pair of them walked slowly back to camp.

Finn shrugged, "Not my finest moment."

"What's goin' on with you, tryna prove somethin' to everyone?" Finn was surprised by Daryl's statement and came to a halt, folding her arms over her stomach.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.  
"Just seemed a lil reckless, thought you had more of a brain in ya skull," Daryl added, taking a seat on one of the abandoned logs near his tent. Finn joined him somewhat reluctantly.

"I was trying to help, seems the least I can do since I seem to have screwed shit up since I got here," Finn laughed apathetically, Daryl didn't say anything, he just watched her, waiting for her to explain.

"Look, I was up in the mountains for weeks, maybe over a month, I don't know…I watched all my friends get ripped apart, I had to kill my college roommate, knowing she had a kid and a husband at home, I'd known her for almost five years." Finn added, causing Daryl to frown.

"I slept in trees, I climbed rock faces and hung there for as long as my arms could handle because I knew the walkers couldn't get to me. I was starving and dehydrated and guilty, because I was the only one left," She paused, running a hand over her face, "Then I end up with these people, injured and terrified. I tried to put on the personality I had before all of this started so that everyone didn't think I was some crazy ass idiot…I had the hope that it would be different, you know? With a big group of people and weapons and cars and food, I thought it would be different." Silence fell over the pair as Finn hugged her jacket closer to herself.

"It isn't different, people are still dying and going missing, I've developed some sort of attraction to guys that shoot me and I'm having sex whenever I get scared and I'm seriously worried that it's all going to bite me in the ass," Finn paused, "Poor choice of words but…I'm not the happiest girl in the world, I'm just terrified…and possibly cursed, I cant be one hundred percent sure on that one."

Daryl smirked as he watched Finn's eyes glaze over a little, she let a small laugh escape her lips as she shook her head.

"And now I'm sat here acting as if any of this explains why I climbed down a well," She added with a smile.

"And I get that all of this I've just told you happened to everyone in some way or another but they aren't being blamed for a little girl going missing, I couldn't have done anything different."

"None of what you've said makes a difference," Daryl shook his head, a scowl on his brow.

"So you had a tough few weeks fightin' on your own, ain't no reason for bein' stupid and reckless," Daryl added, surprising Finn.

"I know, I get it," Finn shrugged, "I just don't wanna be sitting on my ass the whole time. I need to earn my place with this group, everything is strained enough as it is." Finn finalised.

"Shoulda never said you was bein' quiet," Daryl muttered, "You're sure as hell makin' up for it now."  
Finn laughed, the first light hearted thing she'd done during this entire conversation.

"Sorry, I talk when I'm nervous," She said, her eyes locking nervously with Daryl's, "And you make me really anxious," Finn added quietly. She could see Daryl putting his barrier back up, just like he'd done when they were having sex by the barn. He was purposely keeping her at arms length and she couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with Carol.

"I'm going to head back to my tent, think I'll skip dinner and drown my sorrows in an imaginary bottle of wine," Finn added, standing up, Daryl didn't say anything, instead he just nodded and began fiddling with his crossbow.

Finn made a decision that night, as she lay in her tent, the hard ground beneath her back causing the bruises to ache beneath her skin. She wanted to stay away from Daryl, stop using whatever sex they had to get rid of the terror in the forefront of her mind every waking moment. The thought was depressing and caused tightness in her chest but he was damaged and Finn could tell that that damage had happened long before the apocalypse. There was something gentle in him but not gentle enough for her; she was terrified, every night she went to sleep trembling from the nightmares she knew would plague her sleep. She needed someone that would be there when she got frightened and not just for sex, but to hold her and comfort her and remind her that before this all happened she was nothing but a school teacher fresh out of college. The truth was, as much as she had spent the past few days acting so strong and hard and capable, she was falling apart inside, the seams were splitting and she was struggling to hold it all together.

The sun appeared low in the sky and Finn quickly realised the majority of her night had been spent thinking. Her eyes were heavy and exhausted and she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and sleep. Instead though, she crawled out of the tent and into the moist grass, she buried her hands deep into it before rubbing the dew over her face – something her grandmother had told her would get rid of all her troubles. It didn't extinguish the worry she felt but the thought of her grandmother's loving smile and carefree nature brought a momentary smile to her lips.

"You alright?" Lori asked suddenly, choking Finn out of her day dream.

"I'm fine," Finn shook her head.

"You look pretty terrible," Lori added and Finn couldn't help but laugh as she stood up, her leg feeling just a little heavy and painful beneath her weight.

"I didn't sleep too well," She paused, rubbing at her injury.

"Leg bothering you?"  
Finn shook her head, "It was fine until I stood up," She sat down on the grass and tugged at the corners of the bandage. The skin beneath the adhesive was red and blotchy but it was only as the wound became visible that Finn cursed at herself. After the stitches were broken she'd been too busy acting like some kind of mislead super hero to get someone to repair the damage. She noticed Lori out of the corner of her eye and glanced up at her, seeing the panic in her eyes.

"Finn…" Lori's voice was laced with worry and it was making Finn nervous, she looked back down at her leg, the wound open and burning. The remnants of whatever stitches hadn't split away from the skin were straining against the swollen tissue. Suddenly Finn didn't feel too great and the more she stared at the hideously infected wound, the more nauseous she became. Finn crawled away from Lori just in time to empty the contents of her stomach onto the grass. Lori touched a hand to Finn's forehead as she held back her hair before speaking, "You're burning up, we've got to get you to Hershel, get that injury seen to."

Soon enough and Finn found herself sitting on the sofa with Hershel cleaning up the wound at her thigh.

"How bad is it?" Finn asked as she flinched away from Hershel.

"I'm not goin' to lie to you, it isn't looking good," He said with a long sigh.

"So what, are we talking a few days rest and some stitches or should we build me some kind of box?" Finn laughed nonchalantly.  
Hershel paused, studying Finn's reaction, "This isn't a joke, you have a bad infection. I can't even stitch what needs stitching because of the swelling, you have a temperature. I'm not sure what I can do but watch you closely and find you some antibiotics."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finn frowned.

"We'll try and find you the medication, I'll keep cleaning the wound but at the minutes we need to keep a close eye and make sure the infection doesn't spread. I want you on strict bed rest like you said and I'll need you to tell me if you start to feel any worse." Finn watched Hershel as he fumbled with his things and moved to the other side of the room.

"I'll take my ass back to the tent then," Finn sighed feeling a little guilty and feeble about her situation.

"I'll check on you in an hour or so, said someone in to take your temperature." Finn took Lori's hand and pulled herself to her feet, a loose bandage covered her wound and she was grateful for that, she wasn't sure she could bear to look at it anymore without getting sick.

"He's serious about the bed rest, Finnegan," Lori stated as she helped her into her tent.

"Full name now, is it that serious?" Finn replied a little sarcastically.

Lori stared at her, "I know what you've been doing these past few days. Trying to impress the group, show you have something to offer us. But that doesn't mean you ignore the fact you're only human. Deal with it and stay in bed for a few days, heal and rest." Finn was taken aback for a minute, it seemed out of character for Lori to be looking after her and talking to her so straight.  
"Noted," She nodded, allowing her woozy head to hit the blanket beneath her. She watched as Lori made her way out of the tent and disappeared in darkness as Finn closed her eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry it's taken so long, I'm trying to progress with the story and develop the characters but it's proving more difficult than expected, I think I'm back into it now though!_

_Please review!_

Chapter Twelve

Finn tried to open her eyes but her lids felt as if they were held down with weights. She attempted to roll onto her side but instead, her body echoed with pain and fever, her heartbeat ringing out in her ears and thumping against her chest. A fine layer of sweat melted through her clothing, her hair stuck to her neck and chest as she fought to breathe through the heat that was attacking every inch of her. A rustling at the tent surrounding her caused more panic to invade her senses, what if it was a walker? What was she supposed to do if she couldn't move? Trapped inside this weak, burning body with no escape?  
"Finn?" A voice was far away in the distance, she tried to pin point where it was coming from but she couldn't move, couldn't focus.

Daryl grabbed a hold of her, pressing a hand to her forehead the heat was unbelievable. He made a conscious effort not to move her, instead he moved her clothing away from every inch of her skin in a desperate attempt to find a bite or scratch as fear ripped through him. Had it been in the well? Had she managed to scrape herself or get bitten by the walker? Daryl searched every part of her but found nothing except the wound at her thigh, a thought terrified him and he came to a sudden halt. He couldn't remember if he'd used the arrow on a walker before he'd shot her in the woods. It had been weeks, but the virus was still a mystery to everyone and they couldn't be too careful. He managed to set aside his panic for a minute and pulled Finn up against his chest, carrying her quickly towards the farm house.

"Someone get Hershel, now!" He yelled urgently as he burst through the door.

"What the hell happened?" Rick called as Daryl lay her down on the floor in the main sitting room of the house, people were beginning to crowd around them. They stared at the pale grey of Finn's skin and the sweat soaking through her clothes. Shivers ripped through her body as her eyes rolled back in her head.

"I was coming to check on her, I got caught up with Carl," Hershel stated apologetically as he kneeled down by Finn, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Temperature is burning her up from the inside, Maggie get me a cold compress from the first aid kit, it's the least we can do," Hershel stated.

"What you mean it's the least we can do? What's she need? What's wrong with her?" Daryl questioned angrily.

"Is she infected?" Andrea asked from amidst the group of people watching.

"She ain't been bit," Daryl spat.

"She's got a severe infection from her wound, it's progressing rapidly it wasn't half as bad as this a few hours ago, it looks like it could be septicaemia."

"What does that mean?" Rick asked.

"It means we need to find her antibiotics and get her on a drip before the infection spreads," Hershel said matter of factly as Maggie returned with the cold compress, applying it directly to her neck.  
"I gave the last of the antibiotics to T-Dog," Daryl said is quiet recognition.

"We have enough for maybe an hour at a high dose, we need more if she's going to make it through the next few hours." Hershel's statement caused the room to fall silent. Daryl immediately turned to leave, Rick and Glenn following.

"I'll come with you," Glenn stated, interpreting what Daryl had in mind.

"It's dangerous out there, you'll need to be quick and quiet," Maggie said, pulling a back pack up onto her shoulder.

"If you're thinkin' bout goin' back to that school I'd forget it," Shane said matter of factly, appearing from the farmhouse.  
"That place was overrun," He added.  
"I ain't takin' your word for it," Daryl hissed, climbing onto his bike, "You assholes comin' or what?" Glenn and Maggie immediately began gearing up to leave.

Finn clawed her way into consciousness just as Hershel tightened the tourniquet above the wound at her thigh.

"What's," She began but her voice was slurred and she couldn't quite comprehend where she was or how she'd got there in the first place.

"You have an infection, I need to try and stop the blood flow so that I can remove some of the dead tissue, it's going to hurt," Hershel replied but the words barely made it to Finn's ears as a fire started to burn at her thigh. It spread over the skin and forced her back into the darkness.

_The sun shone through the gaps in the trees as she made her way through the forest with Lindsay. They were both weak and tired and the images of the past couple of days beat their way to the forefront of their minds._

"_We're both going to die out here," Finn stated abruptly stopping in her tracks. She watched as Lindsay turned to face her, grabbing her arms and shaking her._

"_We're going to be fine, Finnegan. I don't want to hear that shit, I need you to be strong right now," She paused and Finn took note of a strand of blonde hair as it brushed in front of Lindsay's eyes, "I want to get home too, my baby and my husband are waiting for me and we both know they can't manage without me." They both laughed as Finn wiped the fallen tears from her eyes._

"_Why couldn't we have a hobby like knitting or baking?" Finn questioned light heartedly._

"_Because then we wouldn't be us. Plus, I've tasted the shit you've baked and it's horrendous," Lindsay laughed. Then it was all over._

_Finn watched as her friend was dragged back, away from her. The decaying hands of the man ripped into her shoulder as his teeth tore her skin. _

"_Lindsay!" Finn screamed, lunging suddenly at her friend and knocking the walking corpse away. She picked up a rock from the forest floor and bashed it into its skull.  
"Finn?" Lindsay started, causing Finn to rush back to her friend's side.  
"Can you move? We have to move," Finn looked around cautiously, trying to listen for any sign of an ambush from those things._

"_Oh god," Finn wept as she pressed her hands to the bite wound. _

"_You need to stay up a height, keep off the tracks and stay high so they can't see you," Lindsay said.  
"We'll go now, right now, come on," Finn lifted her friend up and walked with her as best she could but her skin was already warm and pale._

"_My baby, my son," Lindsay wept all of a sudden, as if she had forgotten what she had been fighting so hard to get back to._

Finn gasped for air as the pain subsided, coolness overcame her torso and she could hardly breathe for the relief it brought.

"She's back, she's breathing," Hershel said, but all Finn could see was that strand of hair in Lindsay's eyes and the painful sound of her friend begging to see her son just one last time.


	13. Chapter 13

_This feels like such a dense chapter, hopefully you guys like it! There'll be a lot more of Daryl in the next chapter. _

_Please review and thank you to everyone who has added this story to favourites or alerts so far, I appreciate it!_

Chapter Thirteen

The light poured in through the thin curtains and Finn lifted an arm to shield her eyes, taking note of the tugging at her skin, she looked through blurry vision to see the needle piercing her vein. As her mind became less foggy, the pain in her leg began to bother her; it increased almost to the point she wanted to shout.

And then as if she wasn't in control of her own body, she screamed through tightly gritted teeth.

"Hey, hey," Daryl appeared beside her, holding her back onto the bed as her breathing grew heavy and erratic.  
"Calm down the hell down, Hershel said as long as you don't move too much the pain won't be so bad," He stated but Finn could hardly focus on anything except the searing pain.

"What's going on, Daryl?" She asked, her hands clenched into fists in an attempt to silence her cries.

"Hershel said you got some kinda infection, made your head go all crazy with the temperature or somethin'," He explained.

"Sure as hell can tell you weren't a doctor in a past life," Finn cried, but just in time she felt Daryl's hand on hers, his thumb only slightly caressing the skin. Just then the door creaked open and Hershel appeared, walking towards the side of the bed. Finn noticed Daryl's hand leave hers as he stepped back from the bed.

"Yell if you need me," Daryl muttered to Finn as he left, immediately she knew whatever Hershel had to tell her wasn't going to be good.

"It's good you're awake, it's been a few days, we weren't sure if you were goin' to pull through," He said as he checked her heart rate and temperature.

"Temperature's still elevated, but it's goin' down, heart rate is normal," Hershel spoke, "How are you feeling?"

Finn paused for a minute, taking notice of the strain around Hershel's eyes, "What happened?"

"Your wound was infected as you know. It got worse very quickly, I believe it turned to sepsis, we got you pumped full of fluids and antibiotics but we weren't sure of the damage already done to the leg," He replied.

"You look guilty Hershel, what did you do?" Finn asked with just a hint of strained humour.

He took a deep breath and sat down, "I had to remove some of the thigh tissue and a small amount of muscle, the infection had spread too deep and I was frightened that if we left it to see if the antibiotics worked, you would end up losing the leg."

Finn's breathing stopped, the oxygen held in her lungs as she tried to digest the information she'd just been given.

"What does that mean?" She questioned and Hershel immediately recoiled, glancing towards the window.

"I can't be sure, Finnegan. Until you're healed enough to move around, we wont know. But in my experience, any injury where partial removal of a muscle is involved…I'd be surprised if you have full use of the leg and the pain…I just don't know Finn, I'm sorry."

Finn kept still, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye she laughed.  
"You saved my life Hershel, you've got nothing to be sorry for," She smiled as best she could, "Plus, who needs two legs these days, I seen a guy walking around just a couple weeks ago that didn't have any…although I guess he wasn't walking, more like, squirming?"

Hershel's expression was still serious and Finn touched her hand gently to his arm.  
"Stop with the guilty face, you used antibiotics on me, you operated on me and I'm alive. You've used up a lot of resources to save me, you should be pissed."

"Oh no, you have Daryl to thank for the antibiotics and painkillers we've managed to get hold of. And Maggie and Glenn of course, they went back out and found you everything that you'd need. They played as much a part in saving your life as I did."

"They shouldn't have done that, it's way too dangerous," Finn said.

"You would have died, Finn. They managed to gather some other supplies whilst they were there, it wasn't all doom and gloom."

Finn paused for a second, "When do you think I can get up and moving?"

Hershel laughed sympathetically before he replied, "We've got you on some heavy painkillers, the pain you have in your leg is nothing compared to what it would be like if you tried to stand. You'll be here in this bed for weeks, at least."

"Can you try and convince Glenn and Maggie to come in here, I wanna thank them for everything."  
"Of course, what about Daryl?"

"He'll come back when he's ready," Finn smiled a little, trying not to let everything get to her. As much as she wanted to curl up and cry, worry about whether or not she would be able to walk, she stopped and watched as Hershel left the room. She wasn't ready to consider what it would mean if she couldn't run or even walk in a world where people were constantly being chased by the walking dead.

Although Glenn had awkwardly made his way into the room with Maggie, he'd accepted Finn's thanks and high fived her and very swiftly exited. It seemed that it wasn't just Finn who was worrying about carting around a bum leg, the rest of the group were probably trying to figure out the exact same thing; what use would a cripple be during the apocalypse?

"You look far too stressed, it's not good for the healing," Maggie said as she pulled a chair up to the bedside.

"Glenn looked pretty tense," Finn said, trying to separate herself from the pain in her leg.

"The group were worried about you, we didn't know if you were infected from being in the well, if you'd been bitten or scratched," She replied, putting her feet up on the bed and running a hand through her hair.

"I really am grateful for what you did for me, going into the town like that? You barely know me."

"Hey, you're one of us now," Maggie said, smiling "Plus, you're not half as annoying as most of your group. Shane has been driving us crazy, as soon as he seen you had a temperature he was the first one that brought up the fact we shouldn't waste medical supplies on you, shouldn't risk what people we have left."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Finn added but talking was becoming more and more difficult, the pain in her leg was getting worse.

"You alright?" Maggie asked, quickly getting up and touching a hand to Finn's forehead.

"My leg, isn't there any more painkillers? Anything to take the edge off?" Finn asked, surprised by the urgency in her voice.

"I'll go ask my dad, hold on," Maggie made her way out of the room and Finn could hear her feet as she ran down the staircase. Finn found herself lying back on the bed, her eyes clenched tightly shut as she tried to think of anything but the searing pain in her thigh. She could feel sweat as it began to moisten her hair line and neck as she bit down on her bottom lip in an attempt to block out the pain.  
"I can't give you anymore pain relief, Finnegan. Not for another four hours, I'm sorry." Hershel's voice appeared from the doorway, he quickly checked her temperature and heart rate again.

"Four hours?!" Finn yelled in reply.  
"This you startin' your complainin' all over again?" Daryl's voice appeared and Finn glanced towards the doorway, he was leaning with his arms crossed across his chest, chewing down on his thumbnail.  
"If you're going to run a smart mouth Dixon, I suggest you leave," Finn shouted back, letting a cry escape her lips as the pain burned through her flesh.  
"Listen, Finn. Usually after an operation like this, you'd be put into a chemically induced coma, we don't have the means to do that. That means that the only thing we can do is give you the painkillers we've got at regular intervals to keep things under control. I'm not going to lie, Finnegan…if you're lucky, you'll pass out before the pain gets any worse." The tone of Hershel's voice caused tears to spring into Finn's eyes, she didn't want to hear that the pain got any worse, she didn't want to know that this was what was facing her in the coming weeks.


	14. Chapter 14

_Please remember to review if you have time!_

Chapter Fourteen

Her back lifted from the bed as she writhed in pain, the searing, burning fire that licked at her leg was only growing worse as time went on. The drugs lasted an hour at best, after that there was at least three hours of excruciating pain. People had stopped coming in and out, trying to make her feel better; instead it was only Lori who stayed by her side. She held a cool cloth to Finn's forehead in an attempt to get her to calm down.

"Just take it off, get him to take the leg off, I don't care!" Finn screamed at the top of her lungs, her words slurred slightly from the mixture of drugs and pain.

"You don't mean that, you can get through this, Finn," Lori continued, only angering Finn more.  
"I do mean it! I'll do it myself if I have to! Anything is better than this!" Her voice was barely even her own by the time it got to the evening, it was a mere deep, throaty groan, her dry lips unable to form words.

"No! As long as you've got your leg, you can try and walk, it gives you a better chance of getting away if…" Lori paused "You need to have the leg, Finn. Hershel said that the pain is just the rest of the muscle trying to heal, to get rid of whatever dying tissue is left. You need to let your body heal."

"Leave me alone, if you aren't going to try and help me I want you to leave!" Finn yelled.  
"You can't be alone like this," She began but Finn cut her off.

"Get out!" Lori obeyed somewhat hesitantly, but Finn didn't get the comfort of being alone for long.

Daryl walked in, a glass of water in his hand and a plate of food in the other, he placed them down on the side.

"You gotta eat, Finn," He mumbled.  
"I can hardly breathe, never mind eat," Finn groaned.

"Come on," Daryl put an arm around her waist and pulled her into a seated position in the bed, causing her to expel a loud scream, she did her best to breathe through it but she wanted nothing more than to pull her own hair out just in the hope of a distraction.

"Drink this," Daryl pushed the glass of water to Finn's lips and she shakily gulped a couple of mouthfuls down before she coughed and spluttered, doubling over in pain as her leg continued to argue against her.

"Why are you doing this?" Finn asked through gritted teeth "Why are you bothering?"  
"What the hell you talkin' bout now?" Daryl hissed in question.

"I'm no use to you now, they don't even know that I'll be able to walk, do you think I'll be able to act as your little plaything whilst I'm dragging a useless leg around? What the hell do you want with me, Daryl?" Finn screamed, her fists clenching around the sheets, sweat pouring from her as she tried to shut out the pain.

Daryl stared at her blankly, the muscle in his jaw tensing, "Quit actin' like some cold hearted bitch and eat the goddamn food, drink the goddamn water and shut the hell up. This ain't you, Finn, you don't mean a fuckin' word of that venom spillin' out your mouth," He paused "You ain't copin', fine. All I'm tryna do is make sure you don't starve." It was his turn for his breathing to grow heavy, however his control wasn't that good. As he threw the plate down against the bedside table, Finn flinched as it smashed into a thousand pieces.

"You wouldn't be in this forsaken mess if it weren't for me! You forgot I was the one that shot your ass? If I'd taken two seconds outta my useless piece of shit day to hold my shot you'd be fine!" Finn watched as Daryl paced the room, his hands held tightly into fists, so much so that the skin was stretched into a pale white across the knuckles.  
"I wouldn't have been shot but I'd have probably been dead, up in those woods, alone," Finn stated, causing Daryl's eyes to meet with hers in a cold stare.  
"Better than bein' a cripple," He spat and an awful, guilt ridden silence filled the room.

After about half an hour of silence and watching Daryl walk up and down the room, rubbing his hands over his unshaven, dirtied face, he finally spoke.  
"Drink the water, Finn," His voice was gentle yet filled with authority.

"You didn't do this," Finn stated, tears now filling her eyes because of both the emotional and physical trauma.

"Didn't see no one else shootin' ya," He quipped in reply.

Finn scoffed, her hands gripping the tender flesh around her bandages, "So you're an asshole, I knew that already."

Daryl's eyes lifted and they stared at each other awkwardly before a pained smile lifted the corner of his lips for just a millisecond.

"I'm not dead," Finn stated "Stop pacing back and forth, looking like you killed me already."

Daryl sat back down and ran his hands over his face.  
"You should sleep."  
Finn laughed apathetically, "I don't want to aggravate the guilt you're feeling right now or anything but this pain isn't going to go away. I don't think I'll be getting any sleep for a while."

That was when he moved closer. His hand sort of falling on the bed beside her as he ignored the closeness; Finn didn't try to stop herself when the pain in her leg travelled through her nerves and her hand gripped onto his, taking comfort in the warmth and familiarity.


	15. Chapter 15

_I've been struggling with writer's block these past few days so I hope this isn't absolutely terrible! Please review!_

Chapter Fifteen

Rick slipped an arm around Finn's waist as he helped her down the stairs, Hershel followed slowly behind. Today would be the first day since the operation that she was allowed outdoors, she'd been excited, happy even. Yet the second her feet came in contact with the floor she realised how difficult it was going to be. She still couldn't put weight on that side of her body, and each time she tried to, excruciating pain would devour her, causing her to burst into a bone shattering scream.

They finally reached the outside and she rested her hands against the banister, forcing all of her weight forward as she stared out over the fields.

"How does it feel?" Hershel asked.  
"Pretty much like my leg is going to explode," Finn replied, concentrating on her breathing.

"Have you found any trace of Sophia?" Finn asked, looking past Hershel and towards Rick, she watched as he solemnly shook his head.

"Are you moving the search outwards? You should take advantage of the daylight, stretch out in packs as far as you can, there's a chance she could have made it to one of the other towns, right? What about the highway?" Finn questioned.  
"Finn," Rick began "We've got it, you don't need to be thinkin' about this right now."  
"My fault, remember?" She laughed apathetically "I presume Carol's even more pissed at me now, right? Daryl's been cooped up in that room more often than not the past week." She shook her own head, wincing as she adjusted herself so that she was resting her forearms fully on the banister of the porch.

"Can't say she ain't a little pissed but Daryl's been out every morning, most of the afternoons until the light starts to fade. He manages to get out when you're hung up on the drugs," Rick laughed a little "Plus, there's the rest of us, we're all doin' our best." Silence fell over the three of them as Finn tried again to put weight on her leg, failing and clinging to the banister before she crashed to the ground.

"You need to take it easy, it's only been over a week, you're pumped full of painkillers and anti-biotics, you'll be drowsy as well as in pain," Hershel said as he stabilised her once again.

"Plus the fact I've got a big chunk of muscle out of my leg and one hell of an ugly looking scar, I get it Hershel," She snapped, "I think I should just go back inside."

That night was difficult, Finn was sitting on the bed as she removed the bandages around her leg, taking the time to examine the scar closely whilst she was alone. The door opened slowly and Daryl slipped in, the usual food in one hand and water in the other.

"Shouldn't you be asleep or some shit?" He snapped, sitting down to eat his half of the plate before passing it to Finn.

"How did the search go today?" She asked quietly and Daryl stilled.

"First time you've asked since you woke up from surgery," He replied with a frown.

Finn paused, immediately feeling guilty, "The pain was bad, I'm sorry."  
"It was fine, got a few places in mind for tomorrow, hopefully find somethin'." The reply was vague and sounded a little uninterested, Finn wanted to probe further, try and work out exactly where he was going and what he was expecting to find…but the sadness in his eyes stopped her. All she wanted to do was be close to him, feel the warmth of his skin on hers.

"How's Carol?" Finn asked.

"Must be feelin' better, runnin' ya mouth off like that."

"I'm not running my mouth off, it's a fair question. For once I'm not high on the painkillers and the pain hasn't hit its peak yet. I've got about a half hour before this shit gets ten times worse and I want to know if we're any closer to finding Sophia," Finn's voice startled Daryl and he locked eyes with her.  
"There ain't no we, you been up in this bed every day from a week and a half, you ain't done shit."

"You realise half my leg is missing, right?" She hissed in return.

"You got no right to be nosin' around me wantin' gossip, sometimes I wonder what the hell I was thinkin' bringin' you back to camp that day, shoulda finished this shit when I had the chance, ain't been nothin' but hassle!" Daryl stood up and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. His reaction should have shocked her but it didn't, instead she found herself crying quietly and weakly, she didn't even have the strength to allow real tears to flow freely from her eyes. She just sat there, with the long jagged scar reminding her of how right Daryl was, she was useless to the group now.

Finn stayed lying in bed the next day, welcoming the rush of painkillers every four hours that sent her into a deep slumber. She thought about climbing, how strong she'd felt when she was pulling herself up cliff sides with nothing but her bare hands. She thought about all of the ridiculous injuries she'd had and bruises she'd compared with her friends in the bar afterwards and it made her bitter. Bitter because back then she'd had no idea what this world would be like, what she would have to face. Suddenly she felt an urge to get up, to try and walk down the stairs without anyone's help or assistance, as quick as the thought had come; she pushed up off the bed and onto her good leg. Slowly but surely she clung to the bed as she tried to put weight on her bad leg, the pain forced her to lose her balance, but instead of allowing herself to fall over, she picked up her own, somewhat lifeless leg and forced it to take a step. With each movement she threw herself forward, the pain splitting and crushing her until she was clinging to the doorframe, sweat pouring from her and each breath racking her chest.

"You can do this, it's only walking, one of the most basic things to master," She scoffed to herself quietly, "You learned to walk once, all you have to do now is learn to do it with 25% less stability and 100% more pain…" She cursed herself as she made her next step towards the banister of the staircase, gripping it tightly as she fell to the ground, immediately pulling herself back up despite the strain in her tired muscles.

"I could always go down the stairs on my ass," She shrugged to herself "My dignity wouldn't be intact but it might be quicker and easier than throwing myself down there head first..." Finn continued to babble to herself as she positioned herself with a hand on each side of herself, so that she could take the weight entirely off her injured leg and hop down the stairs on her good one.

"What are you doing?" A voice startled her and she stopped at the bottom of the staircase, feeling light headed and dizzy. Her eyes met Carol's and instantly Finn wished she'd never moved from that bed.

"Just…chillin'…sort of like a villain," Finn mumbled, "I like this banister, this is a very nice banister, I'd put money on it that this was hand carved…" Finn knocked on the wood and tried to stand as still as she could.

"Do you want a hand down here?" Carol asked, surprising her. She nodded reluctantly and Carol helped her hop over to the dining room table, where she collapsed into the chair and hissed at the sharp pain. Carol sat down opposite her and fiddled with her hands, staring down at her fingernails whilst Finn awkwardly glanced around the room.

"I don't blame you, Finnegan," Carol finally spoke, causing Finn to look up with a frown.

"You can blame whoever you want," Finn replied, her voice as gentle as she could make it.

"No, you need to know that I don't blame you. I did, but…I've been told just how stupid that was," Carol began, "All you did was try to help, I've been holding a grudge against you and you didn't deserve it."

Finn couldn't stop herself from looking confused, "What do you mean you were told how stupid it was?"

"It's not my place to say," Carol shook her head, moving to stand up but Finn moved to grasp her arm.

"Daryl told me you were upset about what had happened, what I'd said to you and he put me in my place, if you'll excuse me, I have to do my chores." With that, Carol walked out, leaving Finn frowning towards the empty door frame.

"I'm literally the only person not in everyone else's business around here," Finn laid her head on the table, "Couldn't I have just gotten shot in the head like a normal person?"


	16. Chapter 16

_I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter! Please review and let me know how you feel about this one. If you want a song to listen to whilst you're reading it, I was listening to 'Ride' by Lana Del Rey and 'Strange and Beautiful' by Aqualung. _

Chapter Sixteen

Finn hunted through her bag, she couldn't help but curse herself for being underprepared for the apocalypse, yet as she clawed her way through the numerous books she let out a sigh of relief when she found the crushed white packet. She opened it and took out one slightly flattened cigarette.

It took her half an hour to get out of bed and fumble her way down the stairs and outside. Her leg ached with every movement, as it always did – but she couldn't resist the temptation of the early morning chill and rising sun. As she reached the front door and clung to it for dear life, panting and sweating from exertion, she closed her eyes, enjoying the silence.  
"What the hell you doin'?" She opened her eyes at the sound of Daryl's voice and seen him jogging quickly up the stairs to take her around the waist, partially carrying her until she reached the chair and sat down.

"Nothing like an early morning hop," She replied with a smile, causing Daryl to scoff. She took out the cigarette and tried to straight it a little before she brought it to her mouth, lighting it with a match and taking the longest, deepest inhale she could manage.

"Didn't take you for a smoker," Daryl said as he sat down beside her, stretching his legs out in front of himself.

"Didn't take you for a dickhead," Finn scoffed, "Oh wait…" She continued sarcastically, flashing him a goofy grin.

"Gimme that," He took the cigarette from between her lips and took a couple of drags before passing it back.

"I'm serious you know," Finn said "You've been pretty unfair to me these past few days, it's not exactly helping me get over this life altering injury of mine," She said mockingly.

Daryl looked away from her, keeping his eyes on the fields in front of him whilst he chewed on his thumbnail.  
"Nothin' is fair anymore," Was all he said, his voice quiet.

"You're wrong," She replied "You can be fair to me, you can stop hiding behind this macho façade you've got going on and be freaking nice to me. Or were you only being nice to me before because I was having sex with you and I wasn't a cripple?"

"Quit whinin' like a baby," Daryl frowned towards her.

"This is what I'm talking about, fine, you're a miserable son of a bitch who hates the world and everyone left in it. In case you hadn't noticed, I lost the only thing that made me kinda useful. I can't run, I can't climb and I certainly can't protect myself from walkers. Unlike half the people in this camp, I'm not going to sit here and pretend I don't need sympathy, because I do," She paused, puffing on the cigarette between her fingers.

"I'm not going to pretend to be the bigger person, everyone has their shit going on, Sophia is still missing but I am not a superhero. I am not some strong independent woman who doesn't need anybody, right now I'm nothing but terrified and since you are the only person that can make that terrified feeling go away, I'm going to need you to quit acting like a jackass and be nicer to me!" She hissed in a low, angry whisper, causing Daryl to raise his eyebrows in the remnants of a cocky smirk.

"Fine," He shrugged.  
Finn glanced around, confused "That's it? Fine? No lecture about how I'm 'bein' a lil' bitch and need to suck it up'?" She mocked his accent as best she could, which caused Daryl to smile for a split second.

"You were wrong about one thing," He said, stealing the cigarette from her again, "You are strong, one of the strongest people I know, I don't know many people so it ain't that big a compliment or nothin'. But you can deal, you ain't got too much to worry about."

Finn sat, her mouth open in amusement, "I'm sorry, was that a compliment, from none other than Daryl Dixon?" She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder, "I must really be screwed if even you're apologising to me."

"Shut up, Finn," Daryl stated.

"You like me," Finn poked him in the chest and he slapped her hand away.

"Thin ice, Finn," Daryl said, but there was a light heartedness to his voice that captured her, she couldn't help but smile up at him.

"I've gotta get goin', want a hand back up stairs?" Daryl stood and offered a hand and Finn accepted gratefully. He picked her up and she flinched a little at the pain in her leg, but after that, all she could do was revel in the woodsy scent of his skin and firmness of his chest against her. Momentarily, she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

He put her gently down on the bed, the warmth of him disappearing all too soon for her liking. She refused to let go of him, keeping her hand tightly gripped onto his shoulder.

"Don't hurt yourself," Daryl said, his face just a breath away from hers.

"Would it be considered inappropriate to kiss you right now?" Finn whispered, but Daryl didn't reply. Instead he just pressed his lips to hers, softly allowing his tongue to slip against her own and bringing a beautiful comfort to her. Despite the pain in her leg, she snaked her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to her. He sat down beside her, placing an arm round her waist as he deepened the kiss and just as they grew breathless and agitated, he pulled away, leaving his hand pressed lightly to the small of her back.

"You aren't ready for the things I wanna do to you," Daryl said in a low, throaty growl. Finn could barely speak, instead letting out an annoyed groan, letting her forehead fall to his shoulder as she sighed.

"More reason to stop mopin' in here, rest up, take your meds and exercise when Hershel tells you to but mostly, stop feelin' so damn guilty about shit that wasn't your fault." His words shocked her into silence but she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"I know you told Carol to stop blaming me about Sophia," She said, not wanting to ruin the moment between them but unable to keep her mouth shut, as always.

"So?" He frowned.

"Nothing," Finn said calmly, already feeling him pull away from her, "You think of me sometimes and thank you."

"Whatever," He shrugged, standing up and moving towards the door, but Finn watched as he stopped himself, hand on the doorknob and moved his head a little so he could look at her.  
"I hope your pain ain't too bad today," He said quietly "Rest up, I'll be back later."

With that he left, closing the door behind him gently and Finn could barely remember the last time he'd been so calm and gentle. Why did he have to be so confusing? One minute he was all angry and bitter and the next he was just…Daryl.


	17. Chapter 17

_This is quite a short chapter, I've been so busy that past couple of months with moving house (and having no internet for 5 weeks…) that I haven't been able to update. But I hoped you enjoy this at least! _

Chapter Seventeen

There wasn't much a person could do with their day when they're stuck in a bed, unable to move their leg. Finn kept this in mind as she began to grow agitated and nervous. It was still light outside, but only just. The sun was setting, showing that it was around 6 or 7 in the evening, yet still Daryl hadn't come back. She understood that he needed to make the most of the light, yet still she couldn't help but worry.

Finn lifted herself out of bed, letting out a low groan when the movement inflicted a sharp, debilitating pain. She breathed through it before trying to move forward towards the windows, she stared out across the empty landscape lazily…until something caught her attention. There was the slightest glint of light, Andrea pointing a gun out towards the fields as some of the men rushed out over the fences. Finn followed Andrea's line of vision until she seen the unsteady figure staggering towards camp, it was only when she took note of the dirtied vest top and crossbow that she realised it was Daryl. Putting two and two together that Andrea was about to pull the trigger, Finn panicked. She threw the window open, trying to scream as loud as she could.

"Don't shoot! It's Daryl, don't shoot!" She yelled, Andrea barely flinched, positioning her gun atop the RV. It would take Finn half an hour to get down the stairs, she would need to limp through the pain one step at a time and by then Andrea would have already pulled the trigger. Against her better judgement, she moved around towards where her bag was sat in the corner of the room. She pulled out her gun, the one that Rick had given her just a few weeks ago. She hadn't had to shoot it yet and she hoped she could remember everything her father had taught her.

She reached the window again, struggling to hold herself upright as she positioned the gun.

"Andrea!" Finn screamed again but it was pointless.

"It's Daryl, god dammit!" She shouted, but it was mostly for her own benefit. Finn aimed the gun at the RV, close to where Andrea was sitting. If she could manage to give her a fright, Andrea would drop the gun and refrain from shooting Daryl…however, if it all went seriously wrong Finn recognised she would probably miss and shoot Andrea. Alternatively Andrea would miss and shoot someone else on camp. Her trigger finger spoke for itself as it squeezed down a little more, the gun shot rang out around her, echoed by the sound of Andrea's shot. Immediately Andrea had fallen back a little from her gun, but it was too late. Daryl too had fallen to the ground.

"What the hell?!" Andrea yelled, her eyes finding Finn's, but only for a second, because already Finn was moving away from the window and down the stairs, dropping the gun as she limped, throwing herself forward as best she could. The all too familiar sweat appeared as the pain grew to almost earth shattering proportions.

She made it outside only to collapse on the porch, helped to her feet by an urgent looking Dale.

"It was Daryl, she just shot Daryl," Finn spoke through uneven, desperate gasps.

"What the fuck was that? Are you trying to get me killed! Not to mention putting the rest of the camp at risk by firing guns off all over the place," Andrea screamed as she came bounding towards Finn.

"You stupid bitch," Finn wept, struggling to hold herself up but trying her best to walk past Andrea and towards the field. The whole place was silent as Finn tried her best to move forward, her bad leg bringing her to a halt at every chance it got.

"Is he dead?" Finn asked as she caught sight of Rick and the others, dragging Daryl's lifeless body towards the camp.

"He's alive, unconscious, the bullet grazed him, we need to get him to Hershel," Rick replied and Finn couldn't stop herself from collapsing again, the covering her face as the relief hit her. She lifted her eyes just in time to see them carrying Daryl inside the house. For a few moments, everyone just seemed to watch her as she let herself cry, tears running fast down her cheeks, partially because of the relief, but also because of the pain that was no longer disguised by adrenaline.

"Let's get you up, into a seat," Maggie reached for Finn, helping her back to her feet.

"He'll be fine, cut doesn't look too bad. Pretty beaten up though, took a bad wound to the side," She said calmly as she walked Finn back to the porch.

"Was he bitten?" Finn asked with wide, tearful eyes.

"Doesn't look like it, don't worry," Maggie set her down on the porch steps and Finn groaned in agony.

"Can you do me a favour?" Finn started, lifting her eyes to meet Andrea's.  
"Can you just…" She paused, shaking her head, "Get out of my face? Before I say something I regret."

"You tried to shoot me, don't you want to apologise for that?" Andrea hissed, folding her arms across her chest.  
Finn scoffed, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes, "You know what Andrea, if you actually listened to someone for once in your life, Daryl wouldn't have just been shot. Maybe you should spend less time trying to prove you're a hard-ass and more time being, oh I don't know, a person."  
"Coming from you? Finn you can't say no to anything, you were too busy trying to impress everyone that you didn't even notice your leg was badly infected. Maybe you should take some of your own advice and stop acting like you know it all, perhaps if you had you'd still have two good legs." The atmosphere changed then, Finn kept her mouth shut and looked down at the ground for a few minutes, Andrea had taken it too far, that was obvious…but she was right.

"Then take it from me, at least I know and understand the repercussions for my actions. Do yourself a favour and quit this tough girl act before you kill someone."

Andrea quickly walked away, turning her back and storming off back towards the RV, Dale hesitated for a minute but soon followed her.

"I'll go and check on Daryl, see if there's anything I can do," Maggie said quietly, her hand squeezing Finn's shoulder lightly.

"Thanks," She murmured, unable to manage much more.

What Andrea had said was right, despite the fact that Finn hated to admit it. She had tried to impress the group when she was first rescued, but purely so that they let her stay. Finn may have been stubborn but she'd been out there on her own and knew enough to understand that she wouldn't survive alone. Finn ran her hands over her face and cleared her eyes of tears, realising that Daryl would think she was being stupid for worrying about him.


End file.
